


This Is Us

by roxypony



Series: Dirty Chai AU [1]
Category: Cirque du Freak | The Saga of Darren Shan - Darren Shan, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Co-Parenting, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Humor, M/M, Platonic Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 42,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24066238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roxypony/pseuds/roxypony
Summary: "I didn't HAVE a kid with you. I FOUND a kid with you. There's a big difference."Becoming co-parents to an orphan toddler wasn't in Mika or Kurda's plans. And they REALLY didn't mean for it to bring them closer in any way, shape, or form. But we don't always get what we want. Mika/Kurda is absolutely the endgame here. NOW COMPLETE - sequel is up! Prequel to Call It What You Want and Endgame.
Relationships: Mika Ver Leth/Kurda Smahlt
Series: Dirty Chai AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1840576
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	1. Found You

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I started on fan fiction.net 7 years ago and revisited it this week (happy quarantine amiright) because I happened to be in the mood. Consistency is hard but this is one story I've always wanted to finish.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Okay, we've moved beyond sass." Kurda thought to himself as Mika hunched tiredly over the kitchen table.
> 
> "You're right." The general replied as gently as he could. "I wish we'd done better."
> 
> ***
> 
> Finding an orphan was NOT on anyone's to-do list that day.

No one heard the human’s screams for help that cold January night. They didn’t deserve to meet their ends at the hands of rogue Vampaneze but life is rarely fair. Prince Mika Ver Leth's small company of vampires would be the last to cross the threshold of the cozy and tragically isolated woodland cabin alive. Had they been a little quicker, how different everything would have been.

"We're too late." Mika grunted, dropping the limp drained wrist on which he'd been trying to find a pulse. 

"Too late for what?" Kurda replied casually. The blonde was currently (successfully) masking a great deal of frustration with his dark, moody colleague.

"Don't play the fool, Kurda. Even you can admit that this kind of feeding frenzy wasn't necessary. And so disorganized, my gods. If news of this gets out they're going to attract vampire hunters from every direction. Idiots." Mika glared judgementally down at the massacre before them. Half a dozen adult corpses… a man, a woman, and children of varying ages – none looked older than 15. All drained of blood and bearing injuries that showed evidence of great struggle.

The slender blonde General could've mustered a diplomatic comment, but it had been a long night (this band of vampaneze was being particularly tricky to track down) and he just couldn't be bothered.

"What would you have us do, Sire?" A young vampire spoke up from the doorway. "Are we going to track the vampaneze?"

Mika and Kurda spoke at the same time.

“Yes.” said Mika.

“No.” said Kurda, then immediately sighed regretfully. Oops. Mika slowly rotated on the spot and glared at him. 

“Excuse the hell out of you?” the prince snapped incredulously.

“Sorry, sorry.” Kurda replied lightly, raising his hands. “Ignore me. I spoke out of turn.”

“No, no! By all means, General Smahlt! Please do continue giving out of orders. I’ll just fall in line next to Cyrus here, and let you go about your business!” 

The lower-ranking vampires looked back and forth from Mika to Kurda as though watching a fascinating film. They rarely got to see their superiors lose their cool, even for a moment. Kurda just rolled his eyes. He’d known Mika for so many years now, he wasn’t perturbed by the dark prince’s sassy outbursts. And yes, sassy was the most apt description Kurda could think of. 

“I just think –“ he began carefully, reading Mika’s facial expression. “What happens when we find them? Do we slaughter them? Because that wouldn’t exactly help our relationship with their clan.”

“Are you forgetting one of your fellow generals was murdered last month? And that is the entire reason we’re out here?” Mika growled.

“And you still have zero proof that Vampaneze was travelling with this group, Mika.” Kurda replied with complete confidence. “Not a single shred of factual evidence.”

“We have a name and a description.” Mika hissed. “If we’d gotten here in time, we would’ve captured and interrogated them. And that pile of children on the floor would still be alive.” He picked up a plate from the counter and flung it against the wall where it shattered. The youngbloods jumped at the sound, still looking amazed that they were witnessing such a display from their superior.

Okay, we’ve moved beyond sass. Kurda thought to himself as Mika hunched tiredly over the kitchen table.

“You’re right.” The general replied as gently as he could. “I wish we’d done better.”

"There's one thing we can do." Mika spoke up. "We'll give them an honourable cremation. Find some dry wood to speed things up; I don't want to be here till daybreak." He ordered the others.

"Are you suggesting we burn the house down, sire?" Kurda asked cautiously.

"Not like they need it anymore." Mika grunted. "If anyone finds these bodies they'll go in search of a monster. Humans don't know the vampaneze, it's us they tell stories of. Hunters on our tails are the last thing we need."

"Yes, sire." The lower ranked vampires immediately departed fetched firewood to speed the burning process. No one would ever know what transpired here.  
Mika and Kurda stood in pensive silence. For a minute. Two minutes. Three.

"I smell human." Kurda hissed suddenly.

"That's very astute of you." Mika commented wryly, with a downwards glance at the corpses.

"No, Mika. Someone in this house is still alive!" The general insisted, nostrils dilating and eyes darting.

"You're hearing things. We haven't drank in so long your ears are starting to-" But the prince froze before the word was out of his mouth.

Movement; shuffling. Tiny sounds, meek and inaudible to anyone without superhuman hearing, but definite movement just the same. And drawing closer by the second.  
Mika wheeled around and whipped his sword out. Kurda grasped the hilt of his own weapon, but did not draw it. The pacifist found it almost comical how tense his fierce comrade was.

And from nowhere, the enemy appeared. Except it wasn't an enemy. It was a tiny little girl. Probably not even two. She was dragging a pink blanket and looked bewildered.  
"Oh, FUCK." Mika blurted out, the syllable punctuated by the sharp hiss of his sword being slid back into its sheath. He side-eyed Kurda. The blonde looked caught between surprise, relief, and sympathy.

"Mama?" The kid squeaked as she crawled clumsily into the kitchen.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Mika; beyond the countertop lay what could only be the family of this child, slaughtered and drained. While Mika cringed, Kurda acted. He swept forward and scooped up the intruder before she could see the carnage.

"Dada?" she tried, peering around from atop Kurda's shoulders. Kurda turned so she was facing the other direction. Hugging her bear tightly she didn't seem concerned about the two strangers in her house.

"Shhh, shhh…. It’s alright. Your Mama and Dada aren't here." Kurda murmured, an unmistakable hitch in his voice. He locked eyes with Mika.

"What do we do?"

"We get rid of it. Drop it off somewhere with other humans." Mika grunted. "It's young, it won't remember anything."

"There's not another human for hundreds of miles around." Kurda shot back, while a sticky toddler hand clawed its way through his hair.

"We take it somewhere where there are humans." Mika shrugged. "Give it a chance at a normal life."

"She." Kurda muttered.

"Whatever." The prince grumbled. But then his face softened for a moment. "Hey. Get that thing out of your mouth. You don't know where it's been." He stepped forward and gingerly pulled Kurda’s jacket collar out of the little girl's mouth. Although well-intentioned, the action was not well-received and was met with a bloodcurdling scream of objection. 

The other vampires came stumbling back into the house looking shellshocked.

"What is that?!" Nathan demanded. Kurda turned and he saw the child. "Oh my gods, they left one alive. But why?"

"I doubt they knew she was here." Mika explained in a low voice. "The family was probably awake at the time of the attack; why else would they all be in the kitchen? But it's 1 in the morning, so the kid was probably asleep in its room."

"She." Kurda corrected again. Mika rolled his eyes.

"The vampaneze would've been too preoccupied gorging themselves to catch the scent of another live human. We must’ve woken her up.” The prince concluded.

"So we take it to the city? We can leave it at a hospital or a church." Cyrus contributed.

"Yeah. We'd better move. It'll be daybreak soon." Mika replied. "Are we ready to light the house up?"

"Affirmative, sire." said Nathan, matches in hand.

"Then we go."

The vampires left the house as silently as they'd came in. The tiny girl had no idea it was her last time looking up at the familiar blue ceiling. She didn't realize that the only home she'd ever known was suddenly a smoking wreck behind her. She briefly wondered where her parents had gone, but it wasn't long before she dozed off with her face buried in the neck of a blonde stranger- who didn't feel like a stranger.

The sun was almost up by the time the vampires reached the outskirts of town. They'd had to walk the last 10 miles because it turned out that two year olds didn't take well to piggyback flitting. Their newest companion had puked all over Kurda's hair and shirt, to Mika's unashamed amusement. It was just the three of them now; the group of soldiers had turned back in the direction of Vampire Mountain shortly after leaving the cabin. But Kurda was determined to see the child off to safety, and Mika felt obliged to make sure the job was done right. The prince couldn't help but feel responsible for the fact that the innocent girl had been left orphaned. Vampires did not make it their business to interfere with the feeding habits of the Vampaneze, but their aim had been to track a certain vampaneze named Corbet Skilliter who'd murdered a vampire general several weeks ago. He'd been sighted in the area and Mika was certain he’d been part of the pack that did this. Although didn’t know if he’d ever be able to prove it now.  
If we'd done our job better, she'd be home with her family right now, Mika thought bitterly as he looked down at the little sleeping bundle in his arms. He'd taken over the task of carrying her, seeing as Kurda's shirt was now soaked with baby vomit. The temperature had dropped enough to concern a toddler, so she'd been swaddled in an old shirt Mika had pulled from the bottom of his travel bag. They were walking briskly, searching for accommodations in which they could sleep the day away until the sun went down again. When night was on their side again, they'd find a safe place to leave the orphan before setting a course for Vampire Mountain.

###

"How precious!" the impossibly chipper motel clerk cooed over the sight of the baby whose head was resting in the crook of Mika's arm as though she belonged there. "What an absolute darling!"

Mika forced a smile and tapped a foot impatiently as Kurda paid for the room and signed the papers.

"Hold old is the little angel?"

Fuck if they knew.

"One." said Mika.

"Two and a half." said Kurda at the exact same moment, then exchanged a quick glare. The clerk giggled merrily and inquired,

"And how long have you two been together?"

The dark prince and the golden general each launched into a separate and frantic translation of No oh my god no not like that nope nope nope. If that had sounded awkward (and it definitely had) the clerk showed no sign of suspicion. In fact, she was so awestruck over the child that she came out from behind the counter for an even closer look.

"You're just the sweetest little thing I ever did see!" she squealed, stroking the wispy locks. "What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“She can’t talk yet.” Mika replied wisely. The clerk laughed loudly. 

“Well, what’s her name?” 

“Josephine.” Said Kurda quickly. 

“Vancha.” Mika blurted at the exact same time. The walls were the same shade of green as his friend’s hair – it was the first word that came to his mind. Kurda slapped his palm to his forehead in frustration. For being a lifelong overachiever, Mika was fumbling this situation in a truly spectacular way. 

"She is your baby, correct?" Now the clerk looked skeptical and understandably concerned. Once again Mika and Kurda attempted to explain simultaneously. The clerk was only able to catch phrases such as "niece" "cousin" "in-law" and "three times removed".

"Why don't you two take a seat? I'm just gonna make a few quick calls…"

"Probably better if you don't." Mika muttered resignedly. Before her human brain could register him moving towards her she was unconscious, having landed softly in Kurda's arms.

"Warn me next time you gas someone out." the blond grunted, carefully dragging her behind the counter. "Sometimes they get concussions when their heads hit the floor, you know."

Mika wrinkled his nose disdainfully. 

"She was nosy. Didn't like her."

"She was being nice, Mika. Humans like babies."

"She was going to call the authorities!"

"She meant well."

"Charna's guts, don't you get bored of loving people all day?"

"No. Don't you ever tire of being a glorified grouch?"

"No."

Kurda tsked.

"That's not healthy, Mika."

"Shut up and grab the room key."

###

"So, her name is actually Grace. It’s embroidered right here on her blanket. If only we caught that sooner!" Kurda laughed as they set up camp in their room. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Grace! I'm Kurda, and this unholy grump is Mika. Can you say hi Mika?"

"I'm not completely sure she knows English." Mika snorted. He was lying in the other bed, crunching on a bag of chips he'd procured from the outdoor vending machine. It had been years since he'd tasted such a delicacy.

"We need to feed her!" Kurda yelped suddenly as though he'd been struck by lightning. "We don't know when she ate last!"

"Don't they drink… breast milk? Unless you've been holding out on me, I don't see any of that available in this room."

"If only I could start lactating spontaneously! She's not an infant. She's got teeth." Kurda replied in exasperation. "Some, anyway." he added, examining the tot's mouth.

"Well, in that case…" Mika tossed Kurda a Dorito.

"She can't eat this!" Kurda gasped, scandalized. "This is junk food!"

"Well, the alternative is the emergency vial of blood I've got in my bag but I'm fairly sure there's something ethically wrong with feeding that to a kid."

"I guess we can't have you drinking the nice motel lady's blood now, can we?" Kurda signed mournfully. He held up the Dorito. "Open wide!"

Grace wasn't quite sure what to make of the orange fake-cheese-dusted nacho at first, but she warmed up to it in no time at all, and had soon demolished the rest of the bag leaving Mika in shock.

"Better than breast milk, huh?" the prince commented, crumpling the empty bag and tossing it into the wastebasket. "Not like I was hungry or anything."

"Mika." Kurda groaned in a long-suffering tone. "She's a baby."

"Baby trumps Prince now?"

"Are you pulling rank on a two year old? Really?"

"Would that get me another bag of chips?"

"I'll go get you one if it'll shut you up. Just don't let Gracie roll off the bed." the blond general implored before sliding off the bed and sweeping out the door.

###

Kurda had been gone for over an hour and Mika was ready to rip his hair out, or cry, or chug a bottle of the stuff under the sink. Or all three simultaneously.  
The first 5 minutes had been fine. Kurda had left to go to the 'vending machine' (bullshit) and Mika had turned on the TV. He rarely got access to television but he found them entertaining even though he wasn't sure what he was watching most of the time. The first thing on the screen had been a children's show; a gang of middle-aged men singing about such things as vegetables and feelings. Their shirts said Wiggles but their eyes said help, in Mika's opinion. Unfortunately for him, Grace took a shine to them and when Mika changed the channel in favour of the morning news, she let loose a cacophony of shrieks that assaulted his sensitive eardrums for 15 minutes before he abandoned his pride and returned to the Wiggles. So there was that.

Then there came the smell.

He knew exactly what the smell was, and quite frankly he was embarrassed that neither him not Kurda had considered the possibility that their companion was going to need at least one diaper change before they parted ways. Mika Ver Leth, youngest vampire prince in history, the fearless war hero, spent 10 minutes locked in the bathroom attempting to regain his composure (and take advantage of the fresher air) before steeling his nerves and fiercely marching back out to tackle the situation and hopefully emerge victorious, and clean. After another 10 minutes, he reduced his hopes to simply emerging, because any possibility of cleanliness was long gone. It had gone the same way as his dignity, which had jumped out the window and ran down the street naked while flipping him the bird.

Kurda returned to a sight which made him freeze in the bathroom doorway, torn between horror and amusement. He settled for pity. Mika was in the bathtub, soaking in a bubble bath which was so dense that he was only visible from the nose-up. Grace had a similar bath of her own, in the sink. And the garbage can was overflowing with the evidence of a botched diaper changing. Kurda had never wanted to take a photo so badly in his life. The blond raised an eyebrow at his colleague.

"…I tried to change it and I realized we don't have the things." Mika muttered, sounding subdued and battle-weary, like he'd made the trip to hell and back multiple times in Kurda's absence.

"I… oh." Kurda frowned. He just knew they'd been missing something… "We have pillowcases." he decided finally. "We'll put something together. That'll have to do till we get her to the orphanage. And… while I applaud your resourcefulness, I don't think a motel bathroom sink is the best place to leave a baby."

"What would you have done?" Mika growled.

Kurda ignored him and scooped the soapy baby out of the sink, cooing gibberish.

"Did that mean ol' prince put you in the sinky-wink? Well wasn't that silly of him! He's a goofy old bat, isn't he?"

Grace made a delighted slurping noise, and attempted to yank Kurda's hair out by the roots. This evoked a pained grimace and a half-assed "No, sweetie. Mustn't pull." from the blond. Mika rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time that day and tried to heave a long-suffering sigh, but ended up with a mouthful of bubbles.


	2. Day One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "How silly of me!" Mika exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "I forgot Kurda Smahlt only speaks sunshine and rainbows!"
> 
> "There's that stellar Mika Ver Leth attitude we all know and love." Kurda replied through gritted teeth.
> 
> "I like this!" Vanez cackled, slapping his knee and gesturing vaguely at Mika and Kurda. "Like an old married couple, got the anklebiter and everything."
> 
> ***
> 
> Bringing the two year old orphan back to Vampire Mountain was the only logical course of action. No, really. Just trust me on this.

By some miracle, Grace slept peacefully through the entire day. Mika theorized that this was a result of her being exhausted after putting so much energy into torturing him. Kurda was of the opinion that she was just a generally well-behaved child. Either way, the trio was well-rested and ready to head back out.

"So you didn't think of diapers but you got her 2 outfits, 3 bottles, a pair of furry boots, a – a – what is this? A hat? And five thousand cans of baby food? In 20 minutes we're never going to see her again." Mika harrumphed as he pawed through the bag Kurda brought home yesterday. When he'd departed to fetch Mika a bag of chips from the motel vending machine, he'd inadvertently ended up across the street in the baby section of some shopping center.

"I thought it would be nice for her to have a few things to start out with." The general reasoned calmly. Mika snorted inelegantly. Kurda sighed.

"So, where are we going to drop her off?"

"I looked through the phone book and the map. There's an orphanage 2 streets over. That'll be the safest bet." Kurda replied, looking just a little proud of his research. Meanwhile, Grace paused in crawling around the floor to nibble at the toe of Mika's boot.

"Let's not… you don't know where that's been." Mika cautiously picked up the tot and hands her over to Kurda who latched onto her eagerly, and peppered her hair with kisses. He carefully dressed Grace in her brand new pink snowsuit, little boots, hat, and mittens, and off they went.

"This. Is. Terrible." Kurda gasped. You'd think he was looking at a battlefield, not into the window of an orphanage. He insisted on doing some recon before they dropped their precious package off, so here they were clinging to an ugly yellow wall 20 feet off the ground, shamelessly spying.

"It's rather dismal, isn't it?" Mika muttered. They were looking down into what appeared to be a play room, but there wasn't much play occurring. There were at least 50 kids, some looked to be in their teens. There were a few playpens along the walls, holding varying numbers of boys and girls around Grace's age. There weren't many toys or books, and the few they had looked grubby and outdated by at least a few decades. All of the children were poorly-dressed and had a suspiciously hungry look about them. Few were smiling. Even more depressed looked the handful of caretakers who drifted aimlessly around the room. The prince and the general exchanged a glance and released their grip on the wall, dropping silently into the snow. Grace let out a peal of laughter, an indication that she'd quite enjoyed the brief ride from her secure spot in Kurda's hood. And in that moment something passed between the two vampires, an unlikely combination of sympathy and responsibility.

"We aren't leaving her here." They spoke at the same time, in perfect synchronization. Mika thought that was weird. Kurda thought it was kind of neat. Either way, they'd reached an agreement.

"But where will we leave her?" Mika sighs.

"I don't know. But from what I've seen of this town, it doesn't look like a very pleasant place to grow up."

He wasn't wrong. Mika hadn't looked closely before, but there was vandalism in every corner, more than half the shops had boarded up windows, people walked with their heads down, and there was just a general feeling of unease. No problem for a vampire, but a tiny orphan… A thoughtful silence fell between them, and they walked several hundred yards when Kurda stopped dead and wheeled about to face Mika.

"We need to take her somewhere." Mika groaned. "Think about it. We're kind of responsible for her family's… ahem, unfortunate end." Kurda arched his golden eyebrows.

"That's a pretty big burden to bear, Mika. The vampaneze were not breaking any laws – oh, don't look at me like that! I don't condone what they did!"

"If we'd been more efficient, we would've intercepted them before they got to the house and her parents would still be alive." Mika reminded him.

"But we won't be able to track them now." Kurda continued "The best thing we can do is get her back to Vampire Mountain and keep her safe."

There was a pause.

"I'm sorry, I must've blacked out and misheard you because there is no WAY-"

"Do you have a better idea, Mika? I would be absolutely fascinated to see how you'd choose to remedy this situation. Please. Enlighten me."

"Kurda, do you know what the consequences are for blooding a kid these days? I mean, they can't kill me… but you on the other hand."

"Are you being thickheaded on purpose?!" Kurda smacked his palm to his forehead, not for the first time in the past 24 hours. "Nobody's getting blooded! I meant we'll keep her safe.

As a human. There's no better place for her, do you know what the crime rate is in this city? Because I do. And it's high. This is no place to leave a little girl. alone Best case scenario is she gets adopted by nice people. Worst case scenario? There's no limit to how many different ways things could end badly for her. Adopting children is expensive and this is a low-income area. She might get lucky but you and I both know she probably won't."

"So you're saying an ice-covered mountain in the middle of nowhere full of vampires and sharp objects and stake pits spiders the size of your face is a much safer option. I concur." Said Mika huffily.

"I understand your point, although the sarcasm is unnecessary. You see, we'd be

there to look out for her."

Mika fell silent again, carefully mulling over his options.

"It would be temporary." He spoke at last. "We do some searching until find a safe place for her to grow up. We find good people to raise her. You're right, we owe her that much."

The prince cast his steely gaze down to the pink bundle in Kurda's arms. Almost cautiously, he reaches out and gently strokes her hair.

"You're coming home with us."

***

"A baby!" Arrow boomed, throwing his head back and laughing as though it was the best giggle he'd had in decades (because it was). "Noble Sire Mika Ver Leth walking back into Vampire Mountain with a human infant… are pigs flying as well?"

"She's actually not really a baby, Sire. we're guessing she's almost two." Kurda spoke up.

"That's still a baby in my books." Arrow chuckled warmly. "I'd say she's 18 months, judging by her teeth." The tattooed prince peered curiously into the mouth of the little girl as she laughed ecstatically, bouncing on his knee.

"How do you know?" Mika inquired shrewdly.

"I raised a baby once. A friend of Sarah's once got pregnant but she wasn't fit to raise a child. So Sarah insisted we take it in; she refused to see him go to an orphanage. They're awful places. Little James taught me a thing or two about babies. I've kept track of him, he has three grandbabies of his own now." Arrow flashed a grin and lifted Grace up. He'd met her about five minutes ago and she'd taken an immediate shine to him, expressing a profound fascination with his big bald head. Likewise, Mika didn't think he'd ever seen Arrow as happy as he was now with the little girl perched on his wide shoulders.

Mika smirked impishly. "So I suppose you're well-versed in the intricacies of changing a diaper, then?"

Arrow snorted.

"I could change a diaper one-handed and blindfolded but you're on your own with this one. I've served my time. I only mop up after the vampire clan's messes these nights. Speaking of which, I don't suppose you plan on blooding her?""

"Charna's guts, no!" Kurda said, looking horrified that Arrow would even suggest such a thing.

"Stranger things have happened, Smahlt! But good for you. You kept your senses to a certain extent, anyways. I still don't know what possessed you to bring her back with you, but I can see we'll get along just fine."

"Ablah!" Grace declared loudly as she carefully investigated Arrow's tattoos.

"That's right, Arrow." The prince encouraged happily. "Can you say it again? Arrow."

"That wasn't even close." Mika snorted. Kurda cuffed him upside the head.

"Like hell her first word is going to be Arrow, anyway." The dark prince continued.

"Grace, can you say Mika? Mi-ka?"

"Ablah!"

"No…" Mika positively exuded frustration. "It's Mi-ka!"

"Ablah!"

Mika shook his head in defeat. "Fine. Whatever. He's not the one that plucked you from the grasp of certain death but by all means continue to sing his praises."

"Oh, brother. You're a natural father." Arrows snickered with a long-forgotten twinkle in his eye as he stroked Grace's soft blonde locks. She'd decided she was done speaking for the day, and contented herself by sucking on Arrow's thumb.

"I am no such – Grace, leave that thumb alone. You have no idea where it's been!" Mika yelped, springing forward and separating the toddler from Arrow's thumb. "Anyway. Only a monster would abandon a child. I am merely a temporary guardian until we figure out a proper place for her to live."

"Paris should have some good insights. When is he returning?" Kurda inquired.

"Within the week, I'm sure. When I communicated with him last month he was finishing business in Moscow and planning on heading straight back from there." Arrow explained. "Although if I tell him what you brought back with you, I don't think he'd hesitate to flit back and see for himself."

"We flitted back for the last bit of our journey." Kurda admitted. "We thought Gracie might fare badly as the temperatures dropped. Mika declared it an extenuating circumstance."

"Fair enough." said Arrow. "And which of you will she be sleeping with while she's here?"

"We're going to take turns. Seba found a tiny coffin in a closet so he's cleaning it up for her." Mika explained.

"A baby in a coffin..." Arrow sighed.

"What?"

"Rather morbid, don't you think? Why do we even have a tiny coffin?"

"Why do we even have you?" Mika rolled his eyes at his friend.

"I've been told I'm delightful." Said Arrow with great conviction.

"Who's going around telling Sire Arrow he's delightful? Last thing we need is for that big bald head to swell up any more!" Came Vanez's booming voice as he strode into the hall.

"Mika and Kurda found a baby and it likes me better." Arrow announced. Mika ground his fingers into his temples and sighed. He seemed to be doing that more than usual.

"I.. what?" Vanez chortled as he reached them. His eyes widened as he realized there really was an entire baby in Vampire Mountain. "Is my only eye playing tricks? How does one just find a baby?"

"Well, I got tired of talking Kurda so I picked up a travelling companion with better conversational skills." Mika responded drily.

"Gods, you are such a treat." Said Kurda sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"How silly of me!" Mika exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "I forgot Kurda Smahlt only speaks sunshine and rainbows!"

"There's that stellar Mika Ver Leth attitude we all know and love." Kurda replied through gritted teeth.

"I like this!" Vanez cackled, slapping his knee and gesturing vaguely at Mika and Kurda. "Like an old married couple, got the anklebiter and everything."

Mika and Kurda both rounded on him at the same time. Kurda sporting an incredulous long-suffering gaze and Mika momentarily on the brink of committing a war crime.

"Sorry." Vanez chuckled, taking a step backwards. "Inappropriate."

"Say something else funny, I'll drop you on the stakes." Mika grumbled, but without any real conviction. Vanez had been friends with the princes for decades and he knew he was safe.

Then Grace began to whimper softly. The smell followed within seconds.

"Arrow? Please show us how to do it? Just this one time!"

Arrow deliberately rolled his eyes as far back into his head as he could manage.

"Just this ONE time. I'll do it for her. Where are the diapers?"

Mika and Kurda exchanged a look.

"We don't really have any. She's currently wearing a motel pillowcase." Said Kurda.

"Charna's Fucking Guts."


	3. Make Good Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "This is just how it is now. This is us."
> 
> ***
> 
> For some reason Mika thought Paris would be excited about having a makeshift grandchild. I don't know what he was thinking.

"By the black blood of Harnon Oan! Mika Ver Leth, what the hell was going through your mind when you thought this was a reasonable course of action?" Paris Skyle thundered furiously as he paced back and forth on the throne platform of the Hall of Princes. His body was ancient yet his physical presence was as commanding as ever. He'd just returned from a year-long trip through Russia and was of the opinion that everything had gone to hell in a handbasket in his absence.

Of all the different ways this conversation could have gone, this was the last route Mika would have anticipated. He assumed his mentor would be charmed by the new addition to Vampire Mountain, that Mika and Kurda had ultimately made a wise choice between a rock and a hard place. He figured the worst case scenario would be a perhaps few moments of annoyance, followed by an admittance that the little girl was pretty cute after all.

But Paris's reaction blew Mika's expectations out of the water. He felt like he was 25 years old again and had just broken an ancient and irreplaceable artifact. Although Mika was Paris's equal by vampire laws, he'd never felt less like a prince. He was standing in front of the thrones, rubbing his palms together anxiously while Paris seethed and cussed. Kurda stood next to him looking all sorts of uncomfortable. In theory, the general should have been taking half of the brunt but Mika had been Paris's protege since anyone could remember. Paris loved his students as if they were his own children, but he'd always held Mika to a standard that no one else, not even Arrow was expected to top. Kurda could have walked out of the room and the oldest prince wouldn't have paid him any mind. Arrow stood a few feet behind Mika, ever a dutiful friend. He held Gracie in his arms and kept her quietly busy while Mika tried to talk Paris down.

"What would you have done, Paris?" Mika asked softly. His voice was steady but alarm bells were screaming in his mind. He was used to feeling powerful, in control of every situation. This sudden humiliation felt like a surprise ice bath.

"Leave her with the humans, of course! Charna's Guts! What is so complicated about that?" Paris ranted. He'd stopped pacing so he could fix Mika with an reproachful glare. Arrow took an involuntary step back and cupped a hand over Grace's ear in case the yelling resumed. Like Mika, he too still cowered before his old mentor despite having the physical ability to snap him like a twig. Paris was a gentle soul with a long temper, but it was clear he had some very strong opinions about this matter.

"Yes, it was a possibility." Mika continued carefully. "That was our first instinct. Like I said before, we went to the orphanage. It was a horrible place, I would've even leave a tarantula in there. There was no way to guarantee she'd be okay."

"And was that the last remaining orphanage in the country? The world?" Paris spat, pacing again.

"I don't expect it was, no." Mika responded dejectedly.

"The next town over would have been no better." Kurda spoke up. "Nor the next one after that. I have several maps and I'm familiar with the area, I -"

"Who's idea was it?" Paris cut him off, glaring from Mika to Kurda and back again.

"It was a mutual agreement." Said Mika immediately. Paris shrewdly looked him in the eye but the younger prince didn't falter. Kurda blushed but no one was looking at him. Bringing Gracie home was ultimately his idea. Although getting Mika on board admittedly hadn't taken much convincing.

"We looked at our options, and made the decision. We felt it was our responsibility." Mika continued steadily.

"Responsibility?!" Paris laughed thunderously. "Let me tell you about responsibility. How old was I when I was blooded into the clan, Mika?"

"Two, Sire."

"And how old is the girl you brought back with you?"

Mika groaned inwardly.

"Around two, Sire."

Paris sat down in his throne and sighed.

"I didn't get a choice when I was blooded, Mika. Most Vampires reach a crossroads in their lives where they are presented with an opportunity to choose between their humanity and a life with the clan. They weigh their options, ideally as adults, and go from there. I had that choice taken away from me. I didn't get to grow up with a mother and father. I didn't get to play with friends my own age. I never went to school. I missed out on all of the small things that fit together to create a happy childhood. All because someone else decided they were "responsible" for me."

His anger had definitely ebbed. But it was replaced with disappointment which Mika quickly decided was much worse. He felt his face start to burn and he had to look away from Paris.

"But that's not fair!" Kurda protested and Mika cringed. "We aren't taking that decision away from her. Never once have we said anything about blooding Grace. The option isn't even on the table! It was the first thing we both agreed on. You're being unfair to Mika. I was the first one to suggest bringing her home."

"Shut up, Kurda." Mika growled under his breath.

"I believe you." Said Paris gruffly after a moment of consideration. "But know this, General Smahlt: You wouldn't have brought her here if you didn't intend on having some extent of involvement in her life. So what now, you raise her as a human in the world of vampires? Even if you don't blood her, she'll be exposed to years of violence and rituals that have no place in her world so when she's finally old enough to leave the nest, she'll have no idea how to function as a human. Blooded or not, she will be raised as a vampire, but with none of the advantages that come with it. Is that what you want? Exceptional forethought from both of you. Truly impressive ideas from the youngest prince in history and a promising general. Bah!"

Neither Mika nor Kurda had the mental fortitude to attempt a counter argument. Kurda hung his head in shame while Mika stared at a crack in the wall and wished he could crawl in and disappear. Paris was ever the North Star in his life, his guiding light. He adored the man but gods damn, did he ever know how to make Mika feel small. But the hardest pill to swallow was that the old man wasn't wrong.

"They meant well, Paris." Arrow ventured cautiously as he gently rocked Grace in his arms. She was babbling softly and tugging at his shirt with great interest. "I hope you will show Mika the same support you gave me when I chose to leave the mountain and marry Sarah."

Arrow's heart was in the right place but he was quickly shut down.

"Arrow, that is like comparing apples and codfish." Paris snapped impatiently. "There are no similarities to be drawn between this situation and that."

Arrow mumbled a halfhearted apology and went back to playing with Grace. Mika respected his attempt. Arrow never brought up the subject of his wife lightly.

"Sire Skyle, with all due respect I'd like to ask that we take a few days to discuss this matter and come up with a long term plan that will give Grace the best possible chance for a good life." Mika offered, desperate to get out of this room.

"Oh, don't you Sire Skyle me." Paris snorted. "You're not a cub anymore. You have your own throne now yet you're standing in front of me like a sorry little boy. I am not in charge of you. Make your own decisions." He waved his hands dismissively and they took it as their cue to leave. "But Mika..." he added as they walked defeatedly away. "For the love of the gods,do try to make some good ones."

Arrow whisked Grace away on a piggy-back ride to give Mika and Kurda a chance to speak uninterrupted. They made their way to the Hall of Khledon Lurt where Mika wasted no time pouring a mug of ale for himself.

"What the hell do we do?" Mika grumbled, slamming his mug down on the table. "Why didn't we just find the least shitty house in town and leave her on the doorstep?"

"Because it's not that simple and you know it!" Kurda disagreed. "That entire province is a mess. There's violence everywhere. Gangs, human trafficking rings, you were there too! There's not enough food to go around. And their government doesn't give a damn."

"I can't believe you talked me into this." Mika grunted back, ignoring Kurda's entire spiel. The blond narrowed his eyes.

"I didn't exactly twist your arm, you irritable old bat." Kurda snarled, dropping his usual front of amenability. "I told you what I thought we should do, and you essentially said "sounds good, let's go." We have an equal stake in this. So you had better think long and hard next time you try to shift the blame. Especially considering I spoke out of turn to Paris for your sake, I risked my good standing so I might share the blame with you."

Mika took a long swig ale. It wasn't even midnight and he'd now been verbally assaulted by both of the most gentle, soft-spoken people he knew.

"I know you can scatter most vampires around here with a huff and a glare, but understand me when I tell you am not most vampires. I respect who you are and what you've accomplished but I am not afraid of you." The general added swiftly.

Mika slowly drained his mug while regarding Kurda out of the corner of his eye contemplatively. When the amber liquid was gone, he set the mug back down and folded his arms on the table.

"Is that it, then? Any other thoughts you'd like to share?" The dark prince inquired casually with a raise eyebrow. "Don't hold back, Kurda. Tell me how you really feel."

"I just did." Said Kurda smoothly. Mika's face was impassive as ever but his posture had softened slightly. Kurda felt a rush of satisfaction that his point had gotten across.

"Have you been waiting for an opportunity to say that?" Mika smirked.

"You'll never know."

"Nor will I care. Let's go get Gracie back from Arrow before he gets her started on throwing boomerangs."

So they did so. They picked the little girl up and fed her a healthy supper, gave her a warm bath, and tucked her into her tiny little coffin. And they did it again the next day. And the day after that, and the day after that.

Days rolled into weeks, then months. They did thorough research into alternate living conditions. No really, they tried. They had every intention of finding a safe place within the human world in which they could gently slip her into. But then the Festival of the Undead rolled around and they had to funnel all their extra energy into preparations. And then Prince Azis Bendetta died and it was a whole affair. And then Vancha got coronated and it was another whole affair. And then, and then, and then... it never ended. They didn't mean for her to stay in Vampire Mountain this long. It was just an incredibly busy year.

But Grace was safe. She was fed, she was happy... and with every passing day she was loved even more than the day before. Paris and Mika eventually returned to speaking terms again and within weeks the oldest prince was just as eager to kiss and coddle her as anyone else. Mika and Kurda shared duties equally with minimal squabbling and complete devotion to the girl's wellbeing. She had everything she needed. If it required monthly flits to pick up supplies from an actual store, so be it. It certainly helped that she had a legion of fans who often surprised her with a wide variety of trinkets, everything from toys to candies, when they returned from their travels away from the mountain.

They got through one day at a time with a great deal of patience, heaps of resourcefulness, and no small amounts of cooperation. It became the new normal. Sometimes other members of the clan questioned the arrangement (and it was a fair question) but they'd both shrug, exchange a bemused look and say:

"This is just how it is now. This is us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. It was weird writing Paris as a dick. I'm used to him being an easy breezy happy old Grandpa but I figured the guys needed some consequences.
> 
> 2\. I will not hesitate to throw canonical timelines and events out the window if it suits me. I know, I'm the worst.
> 
> 3\. If you're here reading Darren Shan fanfiction in 2020 you're fucking awesome. I wish I'd done this story justice when I started in 2013 (big ooof) but I'm riding this bizarre wave of motivation while it lasts.
> 
> 4\. If you're reading this, can you like drop me a note or something so my brain releases the happy chemical? Sorry, I know it's a pain. It can be one word, that's totally fine.
> 
> Cheers, friends.
> 
> \- Roxy


	4. Everybody Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You haven't found her yet?" Mika groaned, skidding to a stop and clutching his temples.
> 
> "She has to be around here somewhere! Just start looking!" Kurda shot back in a much higher voice than he intended.
> 
> ***
> 
> Things happen. Kids go missing. Vampires completely lose their cool. It's fine.

As it turned out, co-parenting from opposite sides of the mountain was more of a hassle than either Mika or Kurda predicted. Their clashing schedules made it hard to stick to a schedule. Although Grace spent most of her waking hours patrolling the halls with one of her foster-dads, sleep time was more difficult. The prince and the general agreed that having two different beds in two different rooms was probably a key contribution to her worsening ability to fall asleep- and stay asleep.

So Kurda found himself upgraded to a Prince suite. Well technically it was a storage room located next to Mika's cell. But it was huge. But the convenient part was the small closet that joined the two rooms - and featured an entrance from both sides. It was the perfect bedroom for the little girl. Both of her guardians could get to her quickly while still keeping each other at arm's length.

Of course it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Mika and Arrow liked to use Mika's cell as their personal headquarters, often accompanied by the likes of Vancha, Gavner, Arra, Vanez, Larten, or any combination of the aforementioned. They all liked to drink ale and loudly share their thoughts and feelings on everything from vampire politics, to gossip, to roasting whichever youngblood had impressed them the least that week.

It only took a few heated scoldings from Kurda to persuade them to choose a different location for these meetings. He gave them an ultimatum: if they wanted to be loud in close proximity to a three year old, they could take responsibility when she awoke. Truthfully they had developed a collective soft spot for Vampire Mountain's youngest resident, and were very willing to be accommodating. Grace had been sleeping through the night consistently for over a month now and both Kurda and Mika were proud of themselves. In fact, she was so good that they had both become more lax about listening for any telltale sounds coming from her room...

"The itsy bitsy spider climbed to the mountain top. Up came the wind and blew the spider off..." Kurda sang quietly to himself as he rolled out of his coffin while yawning and wiping a bit of sleep from his eye.

"Rise and shine, Gracie!" He called cheerfully as he got dressed. "We've got a big day ahead of us! We're going to meet Daddy in the hall of games. He's doing a few assessments today so we're going to surprise him with breakfast!"

Mika was "daddy". Kurda was "dad". They didn't choose those titles but when Grace started referring to them as such, they didn't exactly reject them either.

"Come on, sleepyhead! Time to brush those tee-" the blond general felt his stomach drop as he rounded the corner and saw an empty coffin.

Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic. He willed himself. Think, think. What was Mika's schedule today? He must have her. That's the only logical explanation. He took her with him and forgot to tell me. But Mika doesn't usually forget. Oh gods, oh gods. What did Mika say he was doing today?

"Kurda, are you good with being on Gracie duty first thing tomorrow? I have be up early to watch about a dozen quarterly assessments. After than I have to meet with the generals that just got back from America." Was what he said. Nope, it was very unlikely he'd have taken her with him. But Kurda needed to rule that out before he let panic overtake him completely.

-Hey. He prodded Mika through their mental link while ransacking every his cell to see if she was planing a spontaneous game of hide and seek.

-Yeah? Came the reply a second later. It sounded faint and he could tell Mika's attention was very focused on whatever he was doing in the Hall of Games. Kurda had moved on to searching Mika's cell by now, but his brief raid revealed nothing.

-Is Grace with you?

-IS SHE NOT WITH YOU?!

Kurda cringed. Now he had Mika's undivided attention.

-Mika, I really need you to not panic right now.

-WHERE IS SHE, KURDA?

-I'm looking for her. She can't be far.

-HOW LONG HAS SHE BEEN GONE?

-Not sure. Just woke up.

-THEN HOW DO YOU KNOW SHE CAN'T BE FAR?

-I'll find her. It's OK.

-I'm on my way.

Kurda was halfway down the long corridor when Mika came hurtling around the corner like a tornado. He'd clearly run all the way up from the a much lower part of the mountain. He was breathing heavily and looked very tense.

"You haven't found her yet?" Mika groaned, skidding to a stop and clutching his temples.

"She has to be around here somewhere! Just start looking!" Kurda shot back in a much higher voice than he intended.

"GRACE!" Mika hollered. "GRACE, THIS ISN'T FUNNY! Oh for fuck's sakes Arrow, would it kill you to shut your fucking door for once?"

"See, I bet she just went in there!" Said Kurda, gesturing at the half-open door to Arrow's cell. Mika tore through it and Kurda followed him. Kurda glanced around the vacant room while Mika wasted no time upturning they various blankets and piles of clothing that littered the floor. Kurda checked the water closet, inside the wooden cabinet, behind the couch (that Arrow determinedly dragged all the way to through the forest and into Vampire Mountain years ago because it was just so comfortable he had to have it.) but it was clear Grace had not chosen this room as her hiding place.

Mika was yelling her name again, bounding down the hallway and flinging open every door in sight.

"I'm going to go down a floor!" Kurda called out. Let me know if you find her!"

Mika waved his hand dismissively but didn't turn around. Kurda bolted down the flight of stone steps and started doing the same thing. Room after room turned up empty, and he moved on to another floor.

-I'm going to start checking the bigger halls. Mika informed him. Even through the brief mental transmission Kurda could tell he was panicking.

-Meet you there. No luck in the east quarter. Kurda replies grimly.

As Kurda made his way quickly to the core of the mountain, his mind betrayed him with intrusive thoughts of stake pits, rushing underground streams, waterfalls, bottomless caves, oh gods oh gods oh gods.

"Hey, Kurda! Any luck?" Kurda heard Vancha's voice as the blond stumbled into the Hall of Khledon Lurt. The green-haired prince was covered in dust as he emerged from behind one of the ancient tapestries that hung on the walls. Arrow was in the room too, crawling on his hands and knees beneath the largest of the wooden tables.

"Mika told us what happened." Said Vancha ruefully as Kurda approached.

"I've never seen him run that fast." Arrow added from beneath the table.

"Where the fuck could she be?" Kurda moaned. He used profanity with much more discretion than any of his present company, so this was a clear indication that he was on the verge of breaking down. "How can she just disappear?! It doesn't make sense!"

"Kurda." Said Arrow very gently as he joined the huddle. "Listen to me. Children do this. They're inconsiderate little jerks and they don't care about your feelings. She probably just started walking for the sake of it, and I'm sure she's just hiding in some stupid corner that we haven't found yet."

Kurda groaned in frustration and gripped his hair in his hands.

"There are so many bad things that can happen to a little kid in this mountain! I can't believe I let this happen. Oh my gods, we never should have brought her back here. This is all my fault!"

"Look, she can't hide forever. There's one of her and way more of us. We've got every vampire in this place searching for her. No rock is going to be left unturned. Just breathe." Said Vancha with considerably more compassion than came standard for him.

"And it is not your fault." Arrow added determinedly. "Now let's keep looking, aye?"

Kurda summoned up the little bit of mental fortitude he had left, and followed Arrow and Vanez out of the hall. As they did so, Mika appeared out of the west corridor and didn't appear to have any good news.

"The... waterfall caves." He gasped as he drew closer to the group. "The Hall of Perta Vin-Grahl... they were moving a storage unit down there yesterday... The north door would have been open all night." Mika slowly sunk to the floor, his back against the wall and his face buried in his hands.

"Well, let's go!" Arrow yelled.

"Arrow, I just came from there." Mika croaked. "There's 6 other men still down there, I sent all of the youngbloods to search every corner. There's no sign...not a trace... if she took one wrong turn, or slipped, she'd be gone in a second and there'd be no way to know..." Mika fell silent, his face ashen. Kurda felt blood pounding in his ears as the horrible possibility crept up on him. He'd never felt this helpless in his life. Mika looked so small, sitting defeatedly on the floor. Arrow folded his hands and shifted anxiously. Vancha stared deadpan at the wall. The ringing silence was awful. But suddenly Kurda felt an unfamiliar fire rising up inside him, like nothing he'd ever felt before. And he knew what had to be done. Kurda knelt down at eye level with Mika. He reached out and wrapped his hands around the prince's wrists, forcing him to look up.

"Look at me." The general forced out through gritted teeth. "Get up."

"Kurda, I-"

"Mika Ver Leth, you get the fuck up right now. We're going to tear apart this mountain and we will not rest until we have her back." Kurda snarled with so much conviction he surprised even himself. Kurda never hurled cuss words about the way the others did.

"Oh, get your hands off me." Mika scoffed but he allowed Kurda to pull him to his feet.

"Now think." Kurda pressed. "If you were Grace, where would you go?"

But before Mika had a chance to answer, they heard footsteps approaching behind them and they both wheeled around to see Seba Nile beaming from ear to ear, and holding -

"GRACIE!" Mika and Kurda shouted in unison.

"Sire Ver Leth. General Smahlt. I believe this belongs to you." Said Seba, gently unfurling the little girl from his strong arms. "She was playing in one of the south wing broom closets."

"Dad! Daddy!" Grace chirped. She grinned as though she'd played the world's greatest prank. "I play hide and seek!"

"Y-You sure did!" Kurda gulped. He felt like the weight of the universe had been lifted from his shoulders. He scooped her up and squeezed her against his chest. Mika enveloped both of them in his arms. He didn't seem able to speak, but his face was pressed into Kurda's shoulder and it felt rather damp.

Arrow and Vanez each released great booming laughs of delight and joyfully patted Mika and Kurda's backs. Kurda thought he felt a rib crack but he couldn't care less. His world had been pulled back from the brink of unravel. Never had he felt such an absolutely paralyzing series of emotions in such a short time. Had it only been an hour since he woke up?

After a few minutes of revelling, the trio disappated. Seba carried on his daily quartermaster duties, and Arrow and Vancha went to round up the Youngbloods and herd them back to the hall of games to continue assessments. They insisted Mika take the rest of the day off and he gladly obliged. Mika and Kurda took Grace to the Hall of Khledon Lurt where they assembled the most glorious breakfast they could manage.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." the dark prince commented regretfully after swallowing his last bite of bacon.

"I don't blame you." Kurda replied honestly. "You were afraid. So was I."

"It was my fault. I didn't shut my door when I left this morning. I didn't think of that til now." Mika admitted glumly. "I guess she heard me get up and tried to follow me. I was careless and something terrible could've happened."

"Well, it didn't." Said Kurda firmly. "She's fine. Plenty of children grow up in worse hands than ours and they turn out fine."

"Is she going to grow up in our hands?" Mika mused. "We always say we're going to find a better place for her among the humans, but we haven't exactly made much progress."

"We were going to go look at that one orphanage in Italy, remember?" Kurda reasoned. "A few months ago. I met that Vampire who grew up there and he said it was a nice place and the children were always treated kindly."

"I remember." Mika sighed. "Then Azis died and the mountain was chaos for a month. We had to postpone the trip."

"Did we have to, though?" Kurda countered. "Arrow and Vancha could have handled that in their sleep. I think we used it as an excuse."

Mika heaved a long sigh and gently stroked Grace's soft fluff of hair.

"All I know is that for 10 minutes today I thought there was a chance she could be-" he lowered his voice to a whisper. "Gone. And it felt like the world had stopped turning."

They both fell into a contemplative silence. Mika went about cutting Grace's pancake with such focus, he looked like a heart surgeon.

Kurda eventually broke the silence.

"I don't want her to go either."


	5. Book Smart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace sighed in apparent exasperation, looked up from her paper and stared down at Larten with a look that could shoot daggers. She really was Mika's kid.
> 
> "Uncle Larten, I'm busy."
> 
> "Oh gods, she is a tiny little Mika." Arra whispered under her breath before dissolving into muffled laughter.
> 
> ***
> 
> Larten Crepelsey doesn't know his ABC's, but the resident four-year-old sure does.

One year later.

"Arra, would this be an inappropriate time to tell you I do not know how to read?" Larten Crepsley inquired conversationally as he brushed dust off the cover of an ancient leather-bound notebook and carefully peeled it open.

"That joke wasn't funny the first time, and it isn't funny now." Arra Sails huffed impatiently, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear as she glared at her companion.

"I was not joking the first time I said it, and I am not joking now." Larten replied with complete seriousness.

Arra gawked at him incredulously from the other side of the cramped room where she was currently pawing through an old wooden chest.

"Then why on earth are you here?!" She half-laughed at the absurdity of the situation. They were doing some reconnaissance in Vampire Mountain's "library", a very small room which was used to store basically anything that had writing on it and no organizational system to speak of. Mika needed some information regarding a negotiation with the Vampaneze that occurred over 300 years ago. Supposedly it was written in a journal that "has to be in there somewhere."

Arra had grown bored of the testosterone-induced arguments that kept breaking out in the Hall of Games so she volunteered for library duty. As much as she adored her time spent in the Hall of Games, she was thinking ahead. Reading wasn't her greatest area of interest but she knew the princes would respect her willingness to try. Perhaps this could be a stepping stone to earn the title of General someday.

"Perfect, thanks Arra. Crepsley, you go with her." Mika had said before moving swiftly down his to-do list.

"Sire, I may not be much help seeing as I never learned how to read." Had been Larten's reply. Mika seemed to ignore him. So away they went.

"Everyone thought you were joking!" Arra laughed incredulously as they sat together in the library.

"Why would they assume I was joking?" Larten scoffed. "Many vampires cannot read. I am not exactly an anomaly."

"But you're you." Arra smirked. "Stuffy, pretentious. You seem like someone who reads Shakespeare for fun. I would've never guessed you can't read."

"I probably would if I could." Larten confessed. "Had I been given the opportunity to learn, I am certain I would have excelled at it." He added with a sideways smile. Arra rolled her eyes.

"Grab some books, Crepsley. I'm going to teach you to read today. But that's going to require some ale. Let's go!"

"No, Larten, no. That's a lower-case "q". It's not a "p". Totally different things." Arra groaned 2 hours later. "See, "p" faces right and "q" faces left. And remember how I said they always need a "u" in front of them? Or else they don't work properly!"

"Why did they make them look so similar?" Larten howled, slamming his fists down on the table. They had set up a makeshift study area in the Hall of Oceen Pird with a handful of old journals they'd rescued from the library. He didn't know whether he Arra was a terrible teacher, or if he was simply stupid. He was just about ready to throw the journals in the fire and go outside and just yell until he was blue in the face. And they hadn't even started on words yet. Arra said he had to master the alphabet first.

"It's not that hard, Larten! Little children can handle this stuff! There is literally a four-year-old IN THIS ROOM who knows the alphabet better than you." She raised her voice slightly. "Right, Gracie?"

Grace often sat at this table on evenings when both Mika and Kurda had other matters to attend to. She had her own paint set, a case of coloured pencils, and a stack of paper taller than her and could easily amuse herself there for hours. Seba was watching over her at this present moment, going back and forth between complimenting her drawing and laughing at the nearby Larten's academic ineptitude.

"You have to sing your ABC's, Uncle Larten!" the little girl answered with a goofy grin.

"Singing is a part of this?" The orange-haired vampire yelped. "I give up. I made it this far in life. Perhaps I do not need to read."

" G... P... Q R S... T U V... W X Y, and Z!" Gracie sang off-key but full of enthusiasm. "Now I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing with me!"

Larten pressed his lips together thoughtfully for a moment.

"You know, that tune is not so bad. Hey Grace, want to come over here and run that by me a few more times?"

Grace sighed in apparent exasperation, looked up from her paper and stared down at Larten with a look that could shoot daggers. She really was Mika's kid.

"Uncle Larten, I'm busy."

"Oh gods, she is a tiny little Mika." Arra whispered under her breath before dissolving into muffled laughter.

"Please? It is rather important." Said Larten, maintaining a straight face with some difficulty. The small girl eyed Larten thoughtfully but didn't budge. Seba cracked a mischievous grin and whispered something into her ear. Her face lit up and she spun in her seat to face Larten.

"Will you take me to pet the spiders if I help?" The little girl blurted out, looking like she was on the verge of holding the entire world in her hands. Larten hummed loudly and pretended to think about it while Seba and Arra roared with laughter.

"I think we can work something out."

Mika and Kurda were in the same meeting together at the end of the evening, so they got to the Hall of Oceen Pird at the same time. But they had to pause for a moment to be sure they were really seeing what they thought they were seeing.

Grace was standing on a bench holding up a large piece of paper on which was written the entire alphabet. Larten Crepsley sat directly in front of her as though he was on trial. Seba and Arra sat on either side of him, wearing identical expressions of pure amusement. Grace kept pointing to random letters on the paper and giving Larten a second to guess what they were. When he guessed wrong, Seba or Arra would gleefully reach over and yank his earlobe as negative reinforcement. Grace was laughing so hard she could barely hold her sign up. Larten had a fiercely determined look to him though, as if he was an Olympian athlete with his eyes on the podium. Until he looked up and saw Mika and Kurda standing there gawking at him, slack-jawed. His face instantly flushed the same crimson shade as his cloak.

"Dad! Daddy!" Gracie yelled happily, launching herself weightlessly off the bench and into Mika's arms like some sort of trained hawk.

"Hi, Princess." Mika whispered, planting a quick kiss on her forehead. Kurda greeted her with a tickle, which caused a shriek of delight.

"Is there something you want to tell the class, Larten?" Mika inquired with a distinct air that he was trying very hard to remain serious. Larten mumbled something indecipherable and stared down at his feet.

"Boy, a Vampire Prince is addressing you! Show some respect!" Seba chastised him, complete with a swat upside the head. Judging by Larten's face going even redder, he was the only one that didn't see the jovial smirk on his old mentor's face.

Kurda had already covered his mouth to unsuccessfully mask his giggles. Mika didn't look far behind but he was putting up a brave fight.

"Sire Ver Leth." Larten spoke up, raising his head. "I am very sorry. I did mention something earlier today but I do not believe you heard me. I should have been more clear. Unfortunately, I am illiterate. Grace is more proficient in the language arts than I. But thanks to her resoluteness, I have memorized the entire alphabet."

Arra rolled her eyes and elbowed Larten in the ribs. He sighed.

"Fine. The entire alphabet up to "P", that is."

Mika raises his eyebrows, clearly lost for words. Larten braced himself for be absolutely roasted. But whatever thread that had been holding Mika's composure together, finally unravelled and the dark prince dissolved into a fit of laughter so overpowering he had to hand Grace over to Kurda. Everyone but Larten joined in the uproar, and soon they all had tears streaming from their eyes as they succumbed to this incredible dose of hilarity at Larten's expense. The orange-haired vampire sat glumly with his arms crossed and waited it out.

"I heard what you said earlier." Mika gasped when he was finally able to stand up straight again. "I thought you were just making a really unfunny joke!"

"That's what I told him!" Arra snorted.

"Dad, I teach Uncle Larten like you teach me!" Grace piped up as she twirled Kurda's hair around her finger. She and Kurda had spent countless hours curled up in various nooks and crannies of Vampire Mountain as he lovingly taught her about letters and numbers and she absorbed it like a little sponge.

"You taught Uncle Larten very well, my dear." Kurda praised her. "Was he a good student?"

Grace looked from Kurda to Mika, then over at Larten. She grinned as though she was hiding the world's greatest secret.

"No!" She giggled at last. "He doesn't even know his Ps and Qs!"

Larten looked crestfallen.

"I got almost all of the others!"

"You know, Larten..." said Kurda with an amenable smile. "I was just about to start reading a new story to Grace. I find reading out loud helps her learn faster. You...you would be more than welcome to join us. If you're interested. No pressure." The blond general maintained a casual smile while Mika, Arra, and Seba broke down in laughter once again. Larten sighed for probably the 47th that day.

"When is the next session?"


	6. Control Freak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There were 3 Mikas that existed in the same moody, sassy, dark-clad body. At least according to Kurda's observation.
> 
> Type 1: Vampire Prince Mika.  
> Runs on barrels of ale, enjoys sword fighting and long walks to the sporting halls. Often found yelling at youngbloods for breathing his oxygen. Vampire Prince Mika is one half of a co-dependent bromance with Fellow Vampire Prince Arrow.
> 
> Type 2: Daddy Mika.  
> Softer than a brand new kitten and makes no apologies for it. Sings the best lullabies and lives to have his hair brushed by Gracie. Daddy Mika and Vampire Prince Mika cannot be activated at the same time, but can be switched back and forth within seconds which is pretty much the same thing.
> 
> Type 3: Co-Parent Mika.  
> This is a fun hybrid of the first two types. Reserved for Kurda only. Co-Parent Mika is not as tough as Type 1, nor as soft as Type 2. Type 3 is the best of both. Collaborative, resourceful, creative, funny (sometimes unintentionally) and an incorrigible smart-ass.
> 
> ***
> 
> Mika and Kurda are still getting this co-parenting thing figured out. Anyone know where you can buy bubble-wrap in bulk?

There were three versions of Mika Ver Leth that existed in the same moody, sassy, dark-clad body. At least according to Kurda's observation.

Type 1: Vampire Prince Mika. Runs on barrels of ale, enjoys sword fighting long walks to the sporting halls. Often found yelling at youngbloods for breathing his oxygen. Vampire Prince Mika is one half of a co-dependent bromance with Fellow Vampire Prince Arrow.

Type 2: Daddy Mika. Softer than a brand new kitten and makes no apologies for it. Sings the best lullabies and lives to have his hair brushed by Gracie. Daddy Mika and Vampire Prince Mika cannot be activated at the same time, but can be switched back and forth within seconds which is pretty much the same thing.

Type 3: Co-Parent Mika. This is a fun hybrid of the first two types. Reserved for Kurda only. Co-Parent Mika is not as tough as Type 1, nor as soft as Type 2. Type 3 is the best of both. Collaborative, resourceful, creative, funny (sometimes unintentionally) and an incorrigible smart-ass.

But what all three had in common was the unrelenting, uncompromising drive to protect, to lead, to be strong. It was hardwired into his DNA.

The first time Grace got a scrape, it was in the Hall of Games and she was almost three. She wasn't usually allowed in this area of the mountain but preparations for the Festival of the Undead were underway and things were chaos. Mika set her down for 3 seconds to help with something and that was all it took. He heard a ear-splitting scream and when he turned around she was sitting on the floor crying and bleeding. Not bleeding a lot, but any amount of blood is unsettling for a child that age. She'd reached for nearby sword with a little too much enthusiasm. It was just sitting there, and it was just so shiny.

As it turned out, a youngblood had left it on the table unsheathed for a second while he went to use the water closet. When Mika found out, he unleashed a verbal barrage so fearsome it reduced the cub to tears. Kurda was perched on a bag of sand nearby, cleaning Gracie's scrape and watching the exchange with mild amusement. He sat there for a few minutes with a raised eyebrow before reminding Mika the cub had been tasked with polishing all the practice swords that day. By Mika. Two hours prior. To Mika's credit, he did apologize. (A week later.) Grace was fine, of course. Seba bandaged her up and she spent the next week proudly showing it off to anyone who'd listen. Which was almost everyone.

That was the only blip on Grace's record of excellent health, really. Save for a couple of scraped knees here and there - but then came the fever.

That night started out peacefully as most did. Mika was out on a day trip with a couple of generals and Kurda was meeting with a few other vampires that had recently arrived at the mountain. Arrow was babysitting. After months of begging he'd finally gotten Mika's permission to get Gracie started in the arts of sword fighting. Of course, with the stipulation that he could only use small blunt staffs. But that was perfectly fine with him so away be want. The two of them were along together in the Hall of Princes. It was Arrow's turn to guard the Stone of Blood but things were extremely quiet there so he'd started "sparring" with his tiny friend. He taught her how to jab, how to block, how to evade... Arrow was certain she was more competent than the average four-year-old.

Out of nowhere, Grace carefully set down her staff and said,

"Uncle Arrow, I go take nap now."

And that immediately set off alarm bells in Arrow's mind because he knew very well that Gracie was never, ever one to voluntarily step away from a fun activity to take a nap.

"Are you feeling alright, Gracie?" Arrow asked quizzically.

"Yes, just need nap!" She trotted over and climbed up into the second throne on the right (Mika's) and curled up like a cat.

"Are you sure?" Arrow pressed determinedly. He followed her and laid his palm on her forehead. She was burning up.

Uh-oh. Arrow cringed internally and reached out to Mika through their mental link.

-Time to come home.

Mika had flitted home within the hour and by the time he stumbled into the Hall of Recovery. Grace was propped up on a pillow on one of the beds and looked very ill indeed. She seemed to be asleep; and her face was very pale. Mika's heart sank like a stone. Kurda was sitting on the bed next to her looking equally anxious as he held a washcloth to her forehead. Seba was stirring something in a tiny bowl nearby and Arrow was standing next to the bed solemnly.

"Oh good, you're back." Said Kurda wearily as Mika sat down on the other side of the bed.

"What the hell happened?"

"We were playing and suddenly she said she wanted to take a nap. I knew that wasn't normal so I felt her forehead." Arrow explained sombrely. "I brought her up here right away."

"She has a very high fever." Seba added. "We have been keeping a close eye on her but fevers can be quite dangerous for someone so young. But she's sleeping now, and that's a good thing."

"So, what do I do now?!"

"There's not much we can do, Mika." Kurda replied gently. "Seba's given her something that should help. We just have to sit with her and wait for the fever to break. That's it."

Kurda could see the gears turning rapidly in Mika's mind as he tried to figure out a way around this. Kurda could also see him start to unravel internally as he realized there was no amount of power or strategy he could leverage to get them around this one.

"What causes this?" Mika demanded. "Was it something she ate? Is it too cold in here? Why did this happen?"

Seba raised a hand haltingly.

"Mika, there is nothing in the world you could have changed to prevent this. Do you hear me? Nothing. These things just happen. And she is going to be just fine. I will not allow any other outcome."

For once in his life, Mika couldn't muster up a retort. He let out a defeated sound that was part sign and part whimper. It broke Kurda's heart a little bit. Mika was a control freak. Not in a toxic way - he was simply not accustomed to feelings of helplessness. It was a combination of both his job description, and just who he was as a person. He was a leader. He was a problem-solver. He was the one who always had an answer. Until he didn't.

"I have to attend to a broken pelvis in the Hall of Baker Wrent." Said Seba solemnly. "See that bowl over there? You can give her another spoonful 3 hours from now. It will help the fever break but she is too little to have more than one spoon at a time. If you need anything, call me." And he swept out of the room.

"I have to go too, gotta swap out with Paris so he can get some sleep." Said Arrow. "Don't beat yourself up. I'm serious. My kids all got sick once or twice and it's scary as hell but they were all fine. Everything will be okay."

Kurda appreciated that. It wasn't a side of Arrow he was accustomed to seeing. He rarely saw eye to eye with him but he knew the tattooed prince loved Gracie just as he loved the handful of orphans he'd adopted with Sarah so many years ago.

"Thanks." Mika murmured. His unblinking eyes were fixed on Grace's tiny sleeping form. Arrow wrapped his big arms around Mika's hunched shoulders and gave him a little squeeze. He even paused to set his hand briefly on Kurda's shoulder for a moment before heading on his way. Now it was just the three of them. Mika looked up at Kurda, eyes devoid of expression.

"What if this isn't enough? What if it gets worse?"

"We cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Kurda, what if she needs more? We don't have real medicine here. This isn't a hospital, this is just the room where we patch up rowdy drunks that lose fights!"

"I know, believe me I know. Do you think I haven't asking myself that all damn night?"

"Then how are you so calm?" Mika groaned, positively oozing frustration. Kurda kaughed bitterly.

"I'm not calm, Mika. I may not express my emotions the way you and your friends do, but just because I'm not yelling and punching the walls does not mean I'm full of inner peace."

"Sorry." Mika replied hollowly as he stroked Grace's tiny hand with his thumb.

"I guarantee you I've been running over worse case scenarios in my head from the moment Arrow found me earlier. I've got a pretty extensive list of every possible outcome up here." He tapped the side of his head with a humourless laugh. "The good, the bad, and the ugly."

"So what do we do if it gets worse and we can't do anything else?" Mika asked quietly.

"We take her to a hospital and the human doctors will save her. We can threaten them, we can blackmail them. I don't care if we have to flit 1000 miles in the middle of the day. If we need to, that's what we'll do. Whatever it takes."

Mika took a deep breath and when he exhaled, his body seemed to have relaxed a little.

"Maybe I don't give you enough credit, Kurda. You're tougher than I realize."

"I'm inclined to agree with that."

Mika rolled his eyes but a hint of a smile played on his lips. Only for a second though, then it faded again.

"I hate feeling like this. Gods, I hate it so much."

"I know." Said Kurda heavily. "I don't like it any more than you do, but these things happen. They happen to kids that grow up in the suburbs, and they'll happen to her too. We can't bubble wrap her from life."

"You don't think so? Watch me." Mika huffed.

"I'm serious, Mika. If you think about it, she's one of the safest kids on the planet. Look at her life. Lives in a giant rock with stakes and spiders and underground rivers and yet this is the only bad thing that's ever happened to her."

"Don't forget the sword incident."

"Alright, the second bad thing. I still think that's a pretty impressive record. We promised we'd protect her from everything we could, and we've never let her down. This just happened to be our of our control."

Mika said nothing.

"I know you hate that." Kurda added gently. "I do too. But I can hear you beating yourself up in your head and I promise you it's not helping anything. So pull yourself out of the dark place and be here with us instead. She needs us both."

Mika looked up at Kurda with slightly red eyes and smiled wearily.

"You're so annoying when you're right."

So they sat up together and talked until the wee hours of the morning. Eventually Mika insisted Kurda get some sleep, he was starting to sway dangerously. So he curled up next to Gracie and managed to nap for an hour til finally, finally - the fever broke. Her temperature went down, the chills went away and she sat up and played peek-a-boo until Arrow, Seba, and Vanez visited joyfully with a tray of snacks from the Hall of Khledon Lurt. Grace thought it was her birthday. And because time has no meaning to three year olds, they let her think it was her birthday. With the song and everything. Hell, maybe it was. They didn't know what day she was born.

But they did know there would be other days like this in the future, no matter how fiercely they defended her from the world. But what would come would come, they would face it together when it did.

"All we have to do is make sure she's safe."

If only they'd known at the time what that would entail.


	7. The Itsy Bitsy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Daddy, look at my pet!" Grace demanded, throwing the crate lid open and withdrawing the tarantula with a flourish. If she'd only done this a little more slowly, or if Seba had given Mika just an inkling of warning but alas there was no time. There was only a spider the size of his face seemingly appearing out of nowhere.
> 
> ***
> 
> Kids need pets. Pets need kids. Enough said.

Do you remember your first pet? Maybe it was a goldfish, or a hamster. Or possibly a kitten, or puppy. Or maybe you were really lucky and got a pony. Ask Gracie when she got her first pet. She was only two and a half when it happened, but she still remembers.

It was a busy week in Vampire Mountain. There were three different vampires scheduled to begin their Trials of Initiation - all one after the other. So naturally, Mika's schedule was full. And Kurda had been called away on equally crucial General duties. There was an old vampire in Slovakia who'd been roaming the streets of a human city ranting angrily about the Vampaneze - and spilling a few clan secrets as he went. Kurda had to go round him up and bring him back to answer to the Princes. So he gathered a few youngbloods he trusted to help him and off he went. He'd been gone three weeks but had recently reported the mission was a success and that he was on his way home.

That left Grace and Mika together. Which was perfectly fine. She truly was content to follow him around like a little shadow, or else perch on his shoulders and wave at everyone. But Mika was extremely conscientious about what parts of his schedule Grace was and wasn't allowed to be present for. Meetings, absolutely. Presiding over ever-gruesome Trials of Initiation? Not a chance.

So that's why when Seba offered to take her for a night, Mika accepted gratefully. Gracie loved her Grampa Seba, and the tasks of a quartermaster were usually quite tame. There were even things she could "help" him with, like tidying up or stocking (very low) shelves. Or her favourite activity - checking on the resident population of farm animals that were raised in the base of the mountain to ensure a steady food supply. She always came back beaming after a night with Seba Nile, and this time would be no different. The only one who wouldn't be beaming was Mika.

"Grampa Seba!"

"Yes, Grace?"

"Cow sleep in my room?"

Seba looked up from his current task - rationing out chicken feed - to turn around and see Grace getting up close and personal with one of the very curious dairy cattle. They'd gotten to Grace's favourite part of a quartermaster's routine. Farm chores. The old quartermaster chuckled contentedly.

"My dear, I'm not sure that cow would fit through your door."

"Oh." She looked down sadly.

"But you are welcome to visit her anytime you wish!" That made her feel a little better. Seba went back to his job until he heard,

"Pig sleep in my room?"

He turned around again. She was checking out the pig pens. Luckily, the newest litter of piglets hadn't been born yet. The only pigs in the pen were fully grown, large enough that Seba could say with a smile -

"Grace, how would you get your coffin lid closed if you had a pig in there with you?"

That stumped her, so she moved down the aisle.

"Chicken sleep in my room! Chicken small!"

Seba had to think about that one.

"Yes, Grace. A chicken certainly would fit in your room. They are quite small. But what if..." he paused dramatically. "...she laid an egg in your coffin? And you rolled onto it while you were sleeping? You would not want to wake up covered in yucky egg juice, would you?" If there was one food no one could convince Grace to touch, it was eggs.

"Nooooooooo! Eggs blegghhh!" The toddler yelped, leaping back from the chicken cage and giggling to herself.

"How about you take this basket of straw and throw it in the pig pen? They look like they need some fresh bedding." Seba suggested kindly. They didn't, their enclosure had been cleaned out earlier that morning but Grace loved to help. She rushed over eagerly and took the basket of straw, which she flung into the air above the pen and watched it fall like rain. For a few minutes she watched the pigs as they rooted their snouts through it, then they lay down for a nap and she returned to Seba's side.

"Grampa Seba?"

"Yes, dear?"

"I have pet?"

Hmmm. Thought Seba.

"You have lots of pets, Grace. Look at all these animals you can pet!"

"No, Grampa Seba! My pet! To sleep in room with me!" She insisted with fierce determination.

"What kind of animal would you like for your pet, Grace?"

Her face clouded.

"Don't know."

"Ah, well that is perfectly fine. Someday you will find pet that is just right for you."

Grace made a huffy sound. For the next 20 minutes, she kept busy by picking up tiny handfuls of straw from the pile and throwing it into the pig pen. Eventually Seba finished what he needed to do, and they started to make their way up the long corridor that led to the upper part of the mountain. As they went, Seba observed one of the torches had gone out, so he stopped to re-light it. He only turned his back to Grace for about 30 seconds, but as he turned back around he heard...

"Grampa Seba! Found pet!"

In all his very long life, Seba didn't think he'd ever heard such an excited voice. There stood the little girl, absolutely grinning from ear to ear. Clutched gently in her little hands was a massive and very fluffy grey tarantula.

His heart stopped for a moment. He was an avid spider enthusiast and he was very fond of the mountain's substantial population of them. But not all of them were friends. Some were poisonous. Some were very poisonous. He approached her slowly so as not to startle the spider. Just one bite from the wrong species could have her dead in an hour. And Seba dead in an hour and one minute, because Mika would tear his head off with his bare hands if anything happened to her. But he sighed in relief as he got closer - it was just a common (although abnormally large) tarantula. There was no danger to Grace.

"Oh, my! What a magnificent creature!" Seba exclaimed as he knelt down in front of her.

"What he?" Grace breathed in awe as she looked down at her new friend. It occurred to Seba that she probably hadn't seen a tarantula this close before. They didn't often wander into the corridors, they just minded their own business at the base of the mountain.

"This type of animal is called a tarantula." Seba explained. "It is a large kind of spider."

"He soft!" Grace giggled, gently stroking the arachnid's grey fuzz.

"He has a very impressive crop of hair on him!" Seba agreed as he ran his own finger across its back. "He is lovely."

Grace held the spider up to her face and planted a big kiss on it's head.

"Lovely!" She repeated. "I name him Lovely!"

"Wonderful choice. Very fitting." Seba replied seriously. "Dear, it is time to set Lovely down and go get some supper now, okay?"

Grace's face fell.

"He my pet!" She whimpered. "He come sleep in my room!"

"No, dear. I am very sorry." Said Seba with great sympathy. "Lovely is not a pet. He is a wild spider. He lives down here with his family - they are probably hiding nearby somewhere."

Grace started to sniffle, and Seba died inside a bit.

"But...you said...I find pet! And I found pet!"

Charna's Guts. Seba scolded himself. He really had walked into this one. After some coaxing and bribery, he had convinced Grace to put the spider down and carry on their way. The bribery may have included a trip to Africa to ride elephants "when she got a little older" but he made sure not to give that promise a specific timeframe. So she begrudgingly held his hand and together they walked slowly up the corridor to the core of the mountain. When they got to the end, she just happened to look behind her - and the ensuing shriek almost jolted Seba out of his skin.

"LOVELY!"

Seba wheeled around and there was the tarantula, scurrying along determinedly behind them. The little bastard had followed them.

"Incredible." Seba whispered under his breath. Gracie had picked Lovely back up and was giving him the softest, gentlest hug.

"Lovely follow me! Lovely is pet!"

And she looked up at Seba with the most heart-wrenching expression. Seba decided not to be the one to shatter her happiness into a million pieces today.

"Well, Grace. We had better ask your dad. But first, come with me. We will go find a habitat for Lovely."

It didn't take long. He found a small crate made of thin strips of wood that originally held vegetables. There was plenty of air flow for Lovely and it was light enough for Grace to carry with ease. The two of them (well, Lovely makes three) strutted into the Hall of Khledon Lurt at peak dinner hour. But they immediately spotted Mika seated in the middle with Arrow, Larten, and Gavner.

"Hey, Princess!" Mika greeted her. "Did you have a fun night with Seba?"

"Yeah yeah yeah!"

"That's great! What did you do?"

"I pet the cows and the pigs and the chickens!"

"Wow, you were busy!"

"I threw straw at the pigs!"

"Lucky you! Seriously, thanks Seba. You saved my life today. There's no way I would've wanted her in the room for today's trial. It was ugly." Mika grimaced. "He lived, though!"

"Do not thank me yet." Seba answered ominously.

"What does that m-"

"Daddy, look at my pet!" Grace demanded, throwing the crate lid open and withdrawing the tarantula with a flourish. If she'd only done this a little more slowly, or if Seba had given Mika just an inkling of warning but alas there was no time. There was only a spider the size of his face seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

The noise Mika made was a strangled wail so bloodcurdling it caused the entire hall to swivel in their seats and stare at him. He literally levitated from his seat, scrambled backwards, and promptly collapsed on the floor in a dead faint.

"Oh... dear." Seba looked down in horror.

Arrow then almost fainted too, but only because he was having a hard time breathing and laughing at the same time. He revived Mika within seconds and helped him to his feet. Still guffawing uproariously. Mika swatted him upside the head.

"Gracie, where the hell did you find that?" Mika moaned, looking at the ceiling to avoid seeing the tarantula.

"He found me! He my pet!"

"Oh Honey, no. I'm so sorry but no. Tarantulas aren't pets. He's going to have to go back and live with his friends. That's that." Mika declared in a tone of very forced calm. "Seba, take it away. Please."

"As you wish, Sire." Said Seba, gently scooping Lovely from Grace's hands and depositing him back in the crate. As he walked away, Grace's sobs of despair followed him. Seba counted his steps. One, two, three...

"Lovely! Lovely no! Come back, Lovely!"

Four, five, six...

"Seba?" Mika called weakly. There was a pause, and he croaked out in the most defeated voice Seba had ever heard. "Um... bring it back, please. Bring Lovely back."

Seba stopped in his tracks and smiled. He figured he'd at least make it halfway down the hall before Mika caved.

So Grace and Lovely reunited. Mika's face remained a sickly shade of green through the whole ordeal but he put up a brave front.

"Seba, I'll need you to build a permanent spider cage. And it must be absolute maximum security. Triple locks." He ordered. Then as an afterthought: "Build it in Kurda's room."

"Not Grace's room?"

"I have to go in Grace's room every day! I have no reason to ever set foot in Kurda's. So that's where the spider lives, otherwise he doesn't get to live with us at all. Do we have a deal, Grace?"

She was so overjoyed she didn't even care that she and Lovely would be neighbours rather than roommates. Grace, Seba, and Larten spent 3 hours gathering supplies and meticulously crafting an enormous two-storey spider enclosure on the east wall of Kurda's cell. (Remember, Kurda isn't in the mountain right now.)

"Welcome home Lovely!" Grace chirped affectionately when she could finally pluck him out of his carrying crate and set him down in his straw-filled mansion. Seba had left him a little plate of grubs as a housewarming gift. They sat together and watched him nibble contentedly on them. Seba, Larten, and Grace watched him for a few minutes. Mika sat peevishly in his own cell on the opposite side of Grace's room, hoping he'd eventually stop shuddering at the thought of their new addition to the family.

It wasn't till Seba was tucking himself into his coffin hours later that a thought dawned on him. He'd completely forgotten about the time many decades ago when Mika took his own Trials of Initiation. One of them was the Pit of Spiders. Enough said. Mika had passed, of course. But he didn't exactly emerge with his sanity intact. Seba smiled ruefully to himself as he recalled the way Mika had been pulled out of the pit screaming as if he was on fire, and how Seba had to mix him up a sleeping draught every night for months after because he constantly felt his skin crawling. Arachnids legitimately were his only tangible fear.

"Oops." Said Seba out loud to himself. He tried to sleep for a few minutes, but felt the gentlest twinge of guilt so he got up, shuffled to his storage room, then back up to the hall where the Princes' cells were. He placed a tiny bottle of sleeping draught in front of Mika's door, knocked once, then quickly walked away.

"Well played, Seba." Mika chuckled to himself as he looked down at the gift. He uncorked the top and prepared to down it in one swift gulp. But then he paused... he remembered how thoroughly the mixture used to knock him out. How it took Arrow loudly slamming his coffin lid open and shut every morning to wake him up. And now, Kurda was currently hundreds of miles away. If something went wrong, Mika would be dead asleep and Gracie would be alone.

He groaned in disappointment and re-corked the bottle. He carefully tucked it into the corner of his coffin and made a silent promise he'd knock himself out for a well-deserved slumber as soon as Kurda was back. So he practiced finding a happy place in his mind that looked exactly like his real life - just without the giant spider living less than 100 feet away. And he went there every time he felt he needed to, which was a lot. And he got so good at it that two weeks later when Kurda came home, Mika didn't even think to tell him about Lovely. Until he was tucking himself into his coffin and he heard Kurda call out eagerly,

"Aww, what's this? Did you guys build me a new cabinet while I was away?"

Mika sat upright.

"Wait! Kurda, don't op-"

"EEUUUUUUUUGGGHHHHH!"

"Dad! Meet Lovely!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to throw canon out the window when it doesn't suit me, but I also like to cherry-pick things I can use. For example, Mika's arachnophobia.


	8. Cross Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ohhhh no. I don't think so. Mika, hold the baby." And he [Kurda] deftly passed Gracie back to Mika before the Prince could register what was occurring.
> 
> "Let's go, Dean!" Kurda barked in a tone that contrasted sharply with his usual docile attitude. "You and me, in that ring. Right now. I challenge you."
> 
> ***
> 
> Kurda Smahlt is not a violent man. But one only has so much patience for idiots.

Sometimes Mika and Kurda worried that Gracie didn't have enough female influences in her life. Of course they made a point of reading her lots of stories featuring a strong female lead but there's no fictional substitute for the real thing. There was Auntie Arra, but she only spent around half her time in Vampire Mountain. She loved to travel. But her old mentor Mika had cornered her one day and made her promise she'd give Grace "the talk" when the time eventually came. That was at least a decade away but Mika was very good at forethought. He didn't like to be caught off-guard.

"What's in it for me?" Asked Arra with a grin as they casually faced off on the bars one evening.

"The knowledge you're making a difference in a young girl's life."

"Already did that. You and Kurda had no idea how to braid hair til I intervened. And remember when I was the only one she let trim her toenails?"

Mika grimaced.

"Yeah, I'm glad we got that under control."

"If you're worried about having a designated "mom", don't be. I never got along with my mom. But my dad was my very best friend. He did everything for me, just like you and Kurda do for Grace. My childhood would've been happier if I'd had two of him and none of her." Arra explained bluntly as they sparred. But it was barely even a mock fight, more of a casual conversation with the added fun of wooden staffs swishing through the air.

"Hmmm - ow!" Mika yelped as Arra's staff caught him in the chest.

"You weren't paying attention!" She cackled.

"I was thinking about what you said." Mika grumbled reproachfully, jabbing at her ankles which she effortlessly hopped over. He was good, but she'd always been so much better on the bars than he was. "I just... I don't know, Arra. I worry about this."

"What are you worried about?"

"You don't think it'll be... bad for her, in the long run? Growing up living in a rock with a bunch of drinking, fighting men?"

She glared at him.

"Fine. Drinking, fighting men and you."

"Mika, I can't think of a single thing either you or Kurda could improve upon. I'm being serious. What did you do when she told you she wanted to play outside in the sunshine?"

"We built an outdoor playpen with a sun shelter so she could play and we could watch her without getting burned..." Mika replied slowly.

"Exactly. And what did you do that time she wouldn't stop crying?"

"We to her for a long walk in the woods. Kurda carried her while I kept an eye out for bears. We walked for three hours until she fell asleep."

"You see what I'm getting at? You and Kurda move heaven and earth to make sure she has everything she needs, plus some. Hah! Too slow!" Arra scolded as her staff tapped the side of Mika's head. He stumbled but stayed up right on the bars.

Mika smiled ruefully despite the fact that his head now hurt.

"I guess we could be doing worse. Thanks, Arra."

"Don't thank me. You've done a great job. You should be proud."

"So, circling back to my original question..." Mika grinned slyly.

"Oh, I'll do it. For sure. Just say when, and I'll be there to give her whatever lady advice she needs."

"Great! You really are my hero."

"Mmhm. On a completely unrelated topic, I'd like to be promoted to General in the next 10-12 years or so. Just saying."

Mika's jaw dropped incredulously but it was all he could do not to laugh himself off the bars as he realized what she was hinting at.

"I'm not allowed to exchange promotions for favours! You know that!"

"I didn't ask you to." Arra smirked. "I told you, those things are completely unrelated."

"Right, okay then." Mika snorted.

"I just realized I'd never told you that before."

"You never had to. I've always known you wanted to be a General."

"Still feels good to say it out loud."

"Of course you're going to be a General someday. I mean, look at you! And you'll get it done without needing any extra leverage from me, I guarantee it."

"Thanks, Mika. I appreciate that. I mean, or course I knew that already. But it still feels good to hear it."

"Anything for you, Future General Sails. Just remember your promise. You know, in 10-12 years."

So that was that, and Mika went about his day feeling a little better that although Grace didn't have an official "mom", she still had a wonderful little life filled with all the love in the world. It was anything but traditional, and that was okay.

But some people have a hard time understanding anything that fall outside the lines of tradition.

Most vampires accepted the whole Mika-Kurda-Gracie dynamic without giving them much of a hassle. It certainly helped that one third of that trio had a throne in the Hall of Princes and authority to have them tossed on the stakes, if he wanted. Mika would never abuse his power, but it was still a pretty good deterrent. So all-in-all, they got very few unpleasant comments about the nature of their situation. But very few isn't the same as "none".

On this particular day, Mika was coaching a few cubs through the finer points of shield work in the Hall of Baker Wrent. He had Grace with him so he remained on the sidelines, pacing back and forth while she perched on his shoulders happily. He was snapping feedback at the cubs, like:

"Put your back into it, Edward! My gods, it's like you WANT to fracture your clavicle!"

"Terrance, it's a shield. Not a frisbee. You only throw it as a last resort!"

"Gareth, are you sure this is the right line of work for you?"

And,

"Gracie, darling, you're holding Daddy's hair a little tight. Great strong grip you have, but let's be a little gentler - ah, that's perfect. Thank you."

Soon Kurda would be here to switch off on Gracie duties for the rest of the night and Mika would be able to get in the ring and really show them how it was done. When the blond General finally did arrive, he came bearing gifts.

"Sorry I'm late, Mika! I had breakfast and went over a few maps with Larten and Gavner. They're planning a voyage next week."

"It's no problem! Especially seeing as you brought bacon." Said Mika, flashing a quick smile as Kurda handed him a little paper-wrapped package.

"Dad dad dad!" Grace waved happily from atop Mika's shoulders. Kurda gently gathered into his arms and gave her a kiss.

"Did you have fun with Daddy?" Kurda asked her.

"Yeah! Daddy yelled at all the bad boys." Gracie chuckled, pointing at the cubs.

"He loves doing that, doesn't he?" Kurda mused.

"I'm trying to make them less bad!" Mika defended, nibbling on a strip of bacon.

"Alright, Gracie. Let's leave Daddy to it, shall we?" Said Kurda. "See you later, Mika!"

"For sure. Thanks for the snack. Bye, Princess!"

Kurda turned to go, Gracie in his arms.

Then came the cursed comment. It was a washed-up loud-mouthed General-reject named Dean Warwent He was Gareth's mentor. And he really, really did not think about his words before he spoke them.

"Oi! Hope you're going to bring back some bacon for the rest of us, Trophy Wife!" He hooted at Kurda's retreating back. His tone was incredibly ugly.

The room fell silent. So silent you could have heard a spider fart. That was when Dean started to think maybe he should've kept his mouth shut. Arrow started laughing, but not because he thought the nasty comment was funny. He was laughing because he hated Dean and knew he was about to get his ass kicked into next century.

"Oh for fuck's sakes." Mika grunted irritably as though he'd just been tasked with an unavoidable chore. He cracked his knuckles, advanced on Dean and prepared to do exactly what everyone expected. But what nobody expected was for Kurda to say very calmly:

"Ohhhh no. I don't think so. Mika, hold the baby." And he deftly passed Gracie back to Mika before the Prince could register what was occurring.

"Let's go, Dean!" Kurda barked in a tone that contrasted sharply with his usual docile attitude. "You and me, in that ring. Right now. I challenge you."

"Oho!" Dean crowed obnoxiously. "Feeling feisty today, are we? Perhaps you should stick to drawing pictures and looking pretty, eh?"

Without looking, Kurda sensed Mika rise up behind him with the intention to rip Dean limb from limb. The General raised his hand, and told him though their mental link:

\- My turn.

Mika paused reluctantly. Kurda's facial expression hadn't faltered since the first comment, he looked completely serene. There were about a dozen vampires in the room and they immediately flocked to the ringside eagerly as they realized what was about to happen. Nobody really liked Dean, not even his own student. Dean and Kurda squared off.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Mika asked from the sidelines.

"Don't you even." Kurda snapped out of the corner of his mouth as Dean sneered.

Mika rolled his eyes.

"I was talking to Dean."

"It's not too late, General Blondie. Why don't you sit that ass down and let your Baby-Daddy take care of this for you? I'd hate for something to happen to that pretty mouth of your-AUUUGH!"

Dean went reeling back as Kurda's first made direct contact with his face. It was a flawlessly executed punch. (It's worth noting that Gracie saw none of this, no need to worry. Mika's hand was over her eyes and Arrow's were over her ears).

"See that, class? That's what a broken jaw looks like." Arrow noted casually from the sidelines as Dean staggered around spewing blood from his mouth. He wasn't done yet, but close enough. He lunged at Kurda's throat but the General had him on his back with a sharp twist of his arm, and that was the end of that. It's not that people don't know Kurda is a damn good fighter. They just forget because he doesn't consider it a key aspect of is personality unlike most vampires.

"And this is a beautiful example of complete and utter embarrassment. I want all of you to remember what it looks like." Said Mika with cold satisfaction. He glared down at the fallen vampire in a heap on the floor. "Alright, Dean. I'm tired of looking at you. Get up, go see Seba. He will bandage your jaw shut. After that, I would recommend you leave the mountain for a while. I don't want to see your face in these halls until you're capable of basic respect. Cubs, let's all take a break." He added loudly. "We'll meet back here again in an hour."

"No one likes you, Dean." Arrow added matter-of-factly as he stepped over him on his way out of the room. Mika shot the wounded man one last dagger-filled glare. The only one who didn't spare him a backwards glance was Kurda.

"So, did you have fun today?" Mika asked Kurda impishly after they'd put Grace to bed. They were sitting side-by-side atop Mika's coffin lid, each with a mug of ale.

"Fun is probably not the word I'd use. But I don't regret it one bit." Kurda replied decisively. "I'm going to make sure Gracie can stand up for herself in life. Ideally with words, but not every situation can be fixed that way. I don't want her to be violent, but... if anyone ever goes out of their way to make her feel small, she'll have my full support if she chooses to rock their jaw."

"Our full support." Mika agreed quietly. "And we'll make sure she knows how to throw a punch. There's a lot of Deans out there."

"I hate how true that is." Kurda chuckled bitterly.

"Hey, I hope it didn't bother you too much, what he said." Said Mika, looking sideways at Kurda with an atypically concerned expression.

"It was more the way he said it." Kurda admitted. "I'm used to people telling me I'm different. Hell, Arrow tells me at least six times a day."

"I can talk to him about that, if you want?" Mika asked gingerly.

"Oh, no no. Arrow doesn't bother me."

"Are you sure?"

"He's a stubborn pain-in-the-ass, but he has a good heart. He's not the same species as people like Dean. Not even close."

"Alright, well if you ever need me to say anything to anyone, Arrow, Vancha, whoever. Doesn't matter. I'll do it."

Kurda snorted derisively.

"I'm not some delicate flower, Mika! Did you learn nothing from this? I just don't revel in fighting the way most of you do. I absolutely promise you that if anyone did bother me... well, you saw what happened to Dean. I'd have zero qualms about doing it again. Like I said - it's just not my idea of fun. That's all."

"I already knew you could hold your own." Mika replied quietly. "I just... well, the reason you were on the receiving end of that comment because you did something nice for me, and Dean twisted it to fit whatever shitty little stereotype he chose to apply to the situation. It was wrong of him, but I hate that it happened to you because of me."

Kurda nodded contemplatively. Mika continued:

"I'm one of the Princes. People can't just go around and say things like that to me. And I'm very grateful for that privilege, I think I'd go off the deep end if people weren't obligated to filter their words around me. I'd be so angry all the time, I don't know what I'd do. I just wish I could protect you from it."

"Wow." Kurda exhaled slowly.

"What?"

"Fatherhood has turned you soft, Sire Ver Leth."

"I guess we're both full of surprises today."

Kurda didn't say anything. He just smiled, and there they sat together. Kurda rested his head on Mika's shoulder after several moments. He didn't really think about it, he just did it. Mika's body tensed in surprise but he didn't shy away from the physical contact. Another few moments passed, and Mika slowly reached up and patted Kurda's back. Awkwardly at first, as he might do with Arrow or something. But then he just... let it linger there. They just allowed themselves to simply exist there in that moment. There was no underlying subtext hidden in the gesture, from either one of them. It was simply a quieter way to say, "It's okay. We're okay. Because I've got your back and you've got mine." And it didn't have to make sense to anyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this was fun as hell to write. If you're enjoying this, please leave a heart or a note or something. Much love!


	9. Debate Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two of them [Mika & Arrow] were practically soulmates. Loud-mouthed, war-mongering, ale-slurping, heterosexual soulmates.
> 
> It wasn't that Kurda and Arrow hated each other. They just sat at opposite ends of the political spectrum. And every other kind of spectrum. But Arrow loved Mika fiercely, they were family. So by extension, Arrow loved Gracie. And by further extension, Arrow tolerated Kurda and vice-versa. But their polar opposite opinions did lead to frequent debating. Although "debate" perhaps wasn't a strong enough word.
> 
> ***
> 
> A rowdy debate between Kurda and Arrow causes Mika to reminisce on his first encounter with Kurda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends!
> 
> So, I've been writing fanfiction for 13~ years now. And this chapter is completely my favourite piece I've ever written, bar none. These three characters are my heart and soul - I've loved writing the platonic love between Mika and Arrow since day one, and in recent years I've grown equally fond of the not-so-platonic love between Mika and Kurda. (Even if they don't know it yet, it's coming). I had so much fun exploring the dynamic between the three of them here.
> 
> As is customary, I will once again be throwing canonical events and timelines unceremoniously out the window (especially for the flashback) so like, don't stress about it.
> 
> Without further ado, this is "Debate Club"

Here's the thing about Arrow: he had Mika first. They were raised together under the tutelage of Paris Skyle. They grew up as cubs together. They sparred together, they travelled the world together, they settled in Vampire Mountain together. Then Arrow left, got married. Mika carried on. Arrow came back broken and Mika gently put him back together and they picked up where they left off. The two of them were practically soulmates. Loud-mouthed, war-mongering, ale-slurping, heterosexual soulmates.

It wasn't that Kurda and Arrow hated each other. They just sat at opposite ends of the political spectrum. And every other kind of spectrum. But Arrow loved Mika fiercely, they were family. So by extension, Arrow loved Gracie. And by further extension, Arrow tolerated Kurda and vice-versa. But their polar opposite opinions did lead to frequent debating. Although "debate" perhaps wasn't a strong enough word. These affairs usually followed a formula:

1) Arrow says something Kurda thinks is stupid.

2) Kurda politely corrects him.

3) Arrow tells Kurda A) that he's wrong and B) why he's wrong.

4) Kurda sighs in exasperation and defends his case.

5) Arrow defends his case, only louder.

6) Kurda makes a subtle but cruel jab at Arrow's intelligence.

7) Arrow takes a much less subtle jab Kurda's unintimidating physical stature.

8) Kurda gets frustrated and makes several much, much less subtle comments about Arrow's intelligence.

9) There's a lot of yelling from both sides.

10) At this point, Mika says one of two things: a) "Alright, that's probably good for one day." or b) "For the love of the gods, if you two absolute fucking morons don't shut up I'm going to throw you both in the dungeon and let you kill each other." Or some variation of that. (Whether he goes with option A or B is determined by if Gracie is within earshot or not).

On this particular night, they were sitting in the Hall of Khledon Lurt eating lunch like they did most days. Mika, Grace, and Kurda were sitting side by side. Arrow sat across from them. They were at step 4:

"Arrow, I wouldn't get so frustrated if you made an effort to listen. I'm not saying you have to agree with me! I'm just saying you should try to be a little more open minded. You might be surprised at what you learn"

"I am always listening to you because you never shut up! It's constantly I-love-the-Vampaneze and they're-actually-wonderful-people and I'm-going-to-run-away-and-dye-my-skin-purple and-"

"Arrow, you dunderheaded simpleton. Please remind me when I have ever said any of those things. Go on, I'll wait."

"You talk about them all the time!"

"Again I ask: at what point did I say any of the things you've accused me of saying?"

Arrow glared and the vein in his forehead popped. Kurda could see his gears turning.

"You think them!" The bald prince finally spat venomously.

"I do not! The opinions I have and the opinions YOU think I have are entirely different! If you ever listened to a word I say, you'd know that!"

"I don't have to listen to someone who thinks we should be holding hands and dancing around a campfire singing Kumbayah with the Vampaneze!" Arrow howled, volume increasing with every word.

"What went wrong in your pea-sized brain to make you think that's what I want?!" Kurda screamed just as loudly.

"At least I don't need a drawing to find my way around!"

"Only because couldn't read a map if your life depended on it!"

Grace and Mika watched them with mild interest, both nibbling on juicy pork ribs. You might worry about the little girl being frightened by such a boisterous argument but she was so accustomed to loud noises there were very few things that phased her. Besides, she had her Daddy (Mika) ready to usher her out of the room if things took an unusually bad turn.

"I don't know how you even fit into your throne with such an inflated ego!" Kurda was now hollering furiously. Both Kurda and Arrow were now standing up on either side of the table, gesturing their arms wildly as they yelled. Mika and Grace shuffled a few feet down the table to distance themselves from the cacophony.

"My ego is regular sized!" Arrow screamed, red faced and hammering his fists into the table.

"You are so fucking stupid!" Kurda shot back, equally red and surprisingly louder than Arrow. The blond usually gave off an aura of overall demureness, but everyone who really knew him knew he was more than capable of holding his own in any crowd. But still, for Kurda to resort to childlike cussing and name-calling... well, Mika had to admit it was a little funny. But it was a clear sign there were going to be no winners in this debate.

"Daddy, is Uncle Arrow stupid?" Grace asked, looking up at Mika with an expression of concern one might use while inquiring about a loved one's terminal cancer.

"No, honey. No. Uncle Arrow isn't stupid at all, in fact he's very smart." Mika explained softly and Gracie looked very relieved. "It's just... your Dad is really smart too. There's a lot of different ways a person can be smart. They both know a lot, but they don't know a lot of the same things as each other. Make sense? So that means they don't always see eye to eye. And when they don't understand each other, it makes them feel like they need to shout."

"But shouting doesn't help, Daddy." Gracie giggled.

Mika chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

"I know that, and you know that. But they're still figuring it out. We can't all be as clever as you, Princess."

Gracie continued nibbling on her spare rib, then asked-

"Daddy, is Uncle Arrow your best friend?"

"Yes, Uncle Arrow is my very best friend. I've known him for almost my whole life and we've been through a lot together."

"Do you love him?"

"Yes, I love him very much."

"Do you love Dad too?"

That question was more of a thinker and Mika covered it by taking a long gulp of water. Did he love Kurda? Well, they were raising a child together and they'd gotten very efficient at co-managing Grace's life. Which was a vast improvement from how most of their interactions used to go. Now they cooperated with each other with great success. They worked hard, and they celebrated milestones together. They didn't have much in common, but what they did have was the most important thing in the world to either of them.

"Yes, Gracie." Said Mika very slowly. "I love your dad too."

Yikes. That felt weird.

"Just like you love Uncle Arrow?"

"Oh, yes. Definitely. Exactly the same kind of love. You're right."

That made it easier. He supposed Kurda had become just as much of a best friend as Arrow was to him. It was the same kind of love, right? It just manifested itself differently.

"That's good. I love you, and I love Dad, and I love Uncle Arrow, and I love Papa Paris, and I love Grampa Seba, and I love Uncle Vancha, and I love Uncle Larten, and I love Auntie Arra, and-"

"Hold that thought for one second, darling" Mika interrupted her ruefully. "I have to go deal with that, but I'll be right back. Eat your potatoes for me, alright?"

What he had to deal with was Kurda, who had clearly gone off the deep end and was climbing over the table with his hands grappling at Arrow's throat.

"Alright, wow! I think we're done here! Good work, team!" Mika declared loudly, picking Kurda up and effectively holding him back from murdering Arrow. The blond General was so hopping mad that he may very well have succeeded in taking Arrow down if given the chance. And of course now they were both yelling at Mika for breaking up the scuffle.

They would calm down in a few minutes, though. Arrow would stomp off to the Hall of Games to cool down. Kurda would come sit with Mika and Grace and finish their meal, they would joke and laugh and Grace would scold Kurda for shouting, and Kurda would blush and tell her she was the smartest girl in the world and he didn't know why he hadn't thought of that himself. Then he would pick her up and let her piggyback around while he drafted up a new map of the mountain's base.

After that, Mika would meet Arrow in the Hall of Games and practice sparring with him. They would talk and laugh and bash their staffs together and wrestle til they fell down, then they'd pull each other back up and Mika would remind Arrow that he was still his very best friend and there was nothing and no one in the entire universe that would ever change that. Then Arrow would blush and say he already knew that, and proceed to put Mika in a surprise headlock and they'd carry on until it was time for supper.

They'd gather upstairs in the same hall, at the same table they always did. Kurda and Arrow would maintain a perfunctory silence but that was alright because they were listening to Grace eagerly list every adventure she'd had that day. And nobody ever went to bed angry.

\- 20 YEARS AGO -

Mika and Arrow heard a great smattering of rumours about Kurda Smahlt before they ever laid eyes on him. They were both Generals the first time they heard talk of the mysterious pacifist who avoided violence and practiced mapmaking. They thought the idea of a pacifist vampire was amusing but didn't think much more about it. Then the newest gossip reached the mountain and apparently the man was a bit of a "Vampaneze sympathizer" and causing quite a controversy. This caused Arrow to take immediate and uncompromising personal offence at Kurda's very existence before he ever met him.

Arrow was a bit of a polarizing figure himself. Most vampires were inspired by his borderline-toxic loathing of the Vampaneze clan, but there was a decent handful that thought he was just slightly extreme. Mika personally understood both sides. He agreed Arrow could take things a little too far, but Mika had been there to bear witness the day the man came limping back to Vampire Mountain after the notorious bender of self-destruction with which he'd occupied himself in the years following Sarah's murder. But Arrow was loyal to a fault and loved the clan with the intensity of a thousand suns so that was good enough for Mika.

The first time Mika, Arrow, and Kurda all stood in the same room was opening night of the Festival of the Undead.

"I think that's him!" Arrow hissed in Mika's ear, pointing at a slender blond man who was sitting on the other side of the aisle from them as they waited for the Vampire Princes to kick the Festival off. "He's tiny!"

"He's a pacifist. Were you expecting a giant?" Mika snorted. Arrow shrugged.

"Are we sure he's a Vampire? He's so... pretty." Arrow observed disdainfully.

"Well, he's here, so probably." Mika replied indifferently. The blond newcomer was the last thing on his mind. What was on his mind was securing a chance to someday sit upon one of the thrones at the front of the room.

"I thought he'd be bigger." Arrow continued disappointedly. "I was going to fight him. He looks like a strong breeze could knock him over."

"Maybe he's tougher than he looks."

Arrow guffawed at that.

"Yes, maybe." He cackled raucously. "That must be it."

So the Festival began, and several hours later Arrow got his wish. Kurda accepted the challenge graciously and Mika had to laugh at Arrow's clear disappointment. Arrow was certain he'd have to goad the Kurda into combat, and he would have relished it.

"I know it's your first Festival, but don't expect me to go easy on you." Arrow informed him haughtily. To his frustration, Kurda laughed merrily.

"Fair enough!" He grinned with a twinkle in his blue eyes. "In that case, I suppose I won't hold back either!"

Arrow harrumphed condescendingly and they circled each other for a few seconds. Then Arrow lunged forward like a heat-seeking missile and the crowd gasped as Kurda swiftly sidestepped the hit as if he'd seen it coming from a mile away. The fight lasted longer than Arrow expected, mainly because Kurda was able to dodge every swing as if he was reading Arrow's mind. Arrow was a stunningly good fighter but he had one flaw. He fought with his heart rather than his brain. That normally worked in his favour but in this case, Kurda was using the tattooed General's single-mindedness against him. Arrow wasn't fighting to win, he was fighting with the intention to humiliate and Kurda picked up on it immediately. Arrow had size and strength on his side, so even against Kurda's superior speed he should have been able to come out on top. But frustration clouded his mind and his movements became erratic. Kurda had him on the floor in under five minutes.

Mika didn't mean to break down laughing at the absurdity of it. And he definitely didn't mean for anyone to notice. But someone did. And that was the catalyst that set the tone of their relationship from that moment on.

"Hey, you. Yes, the man dressed like a crow. Is something funny?" Kurda inquired quizzically as Arrow slowly gathered himself.

"Mika!" The tattooed General whined reproachfully as he realized who Kurda was talking to.

"I'm sorry, Arrow." Mika gasped as he re-compose himself with some difficulty. "I've just never seen anything like that before."

Arrow fumed. Kurda cracked another smile as though he was having the time of his life.

"Mika... as in General Ver Leth?"

"Guilty as charged."

"I've heard of you. You've made quite a name for yourself the past few years."

"Is that so? I've never thought of myself as particularly interesting." Mika replied guardedly.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken! Your skill and ambitions are widely acclaimed. They say you're aiming to be the youngest Vampire Prince in history."

That caught Mika by surprise. Of course he wanted to be a Prince but he didn't go running around shouting it from the rooftops. He worked hard and let his reputation speak for itself, and so far that was working pretty well for him.

"I certainly wouldn't turn down a promotion." The dark general answered carefully. "But my goal has always been to serve the clan to the best of my abilities, regardless if it leads to a throne or not."

"Ah, spoken like a true politician! The rumours are true." Kurda replied cheerfully. Mika's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Where did this guy come from again?

"You've got a bit of a reputation of your own." Mika countered. "Based on what I've heard about you, I expected a bit of a different outcome from the fight I just watched. As long as we're being honest."

"Ah, hence your amusement at poor Arrow's expense. You thought he was going to snap me in half, didn't you?"

Mika raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I wasn't not expecting that."

"They call me a pacifist." Said Kurda conversationally. "And they aren't wrong, but what they don't take into consideration is that I avoid combat out of choice. My physical abilities don't factor in."

"They certainly weren't exaggerating when they said you were unique." Said Mika with very subtle disdain. "So If I challenged you right now, would you choose to sink to my level? Seeing as you're apparently operating several levels above the rest of us."

"I supposed I could debase myself for a few minutes if it would please his future Highness." Kurda quipped, still smiling amicably.

"Wow, you're a treat. I can already tell we're going to be friends." Mika rolled his eyes, his voice oozing sarcasm. "Let's go."

He stepped into the ring and squared up to the blond newcomer. They were close in height, but Mika was slightly taller. Kurda looked stronger up close than he had from afar. Although muscles were less defined than was standard for most vampires, he didn't exactly look frail either.

"Best of luck to you, General Ver Leth." Said Kurda with a courteous nod.

When it came to fighting, Mika was almost as strong as Arrow, definitely quicker, and most importantly he never carried emotional baggage into combat. Whether a playful spar or a legitimate clash with an enemy, Mika always fought with a clear head. That clarity allowed him to learn a few things about Kurda as the duel unfolded.

1) He was very skilled, there was no denying it. Whoever trained him had done a smashing job. Mika got the impression the blond had a lot more power to him than he let on. Mika was able to stay ahead of him, but it wasn't effortless. He couldn't let his mind wander; one slip would've had him on the floor like Arrow.

2) He fought defensively. Most vampires fight offensively - aim to injure, if not kill. Gaining a new scar meant having a new story to tell. But Kurda put his energy into blocking Mika's shots rather than landing his own. He wasn't interesting in leaving with a fresh wound to boast about.

3) He made no effort to cause Mika unnecessary harm. He fought exactly as hard as he needed to - no more, no less. There was a moment where Mika's left forearm was unguarded and Kurda could've snapped his wrist in an instant but he chose to aim a jab at his ribs instead.

Eventually, Mika prevailed but it wasn't easy. It ended with Kurda's foot slipping for a fraction of a second, and it pulled his focus enough for Mika to gain the upper hand and pin him on the floor. While the crowd roared in delight and chanted his name, Mika extended a hand to help Kurda back to his feet.

"Good fight." Mika told him as they shook hands. And he meant it - Kurda was different than any challenger he'd ever faced, and Mika always appreciated a learning opportunity.

"You as well." Said Kurda with a sideways smile. "You're a very clever fighter. I enjoyed myself."

Mika nodded curtly and they parted ways. Arrow now looked very glum, so Mika decided he'd better get some ale into him.

"Charna's Guts, Mika. I'm glad you beat him, otherwise I might have hurled myself onto the stakes. He is the worst." Arrow huffed as Mika steered him out of the Hall of Baker Wrent.

"Save your energy for a better day, my friend." Mika sighed. "I'm sure we'll never see him again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's that!
> 
> Also, guys... this story is now mainly complete. All of the remaining chapters are fully written. Once they're all tweaked and posted, I am hoping to start a "sequel" that will continue to advance M & K's relationship with less focus on the co-parenting aspect. Just because I ghosted for 5~ years doesn't mean I ever stopped thinking about my angsty mountain bois. I know their story inside and out after all these years of them living in my head and now I'm finally putting it into words. I wish I'd done this sooner but I'm glad it's happening now. They deserve it.
> 
> As always, you don't have to leave a note but my brain would release the happy chemical if I knew other people were enjoying this even half as much as I am.
> 
> Wishing you health and safety!
> 
> \- Roxy


	10. Vampires On Vacation - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It was important to both Mika and Kurda that Grace got to see more of the world than the inside of Vampire Mountain. She was about three and a half when the trio embarked on their first family vacation."
> 
> ***
> 
> Mika's starting to look a little tired so Kurda does the only logical thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, friends. This is the first of a three part story-within-a-story. I am calling it Vampires On Vacation as a tribute to the very first story I ever, ever posted on ff.net. It's a little short but I've divided the full thing into segments as best I could.
> 
> Enjoy!

Vampires On Vacation

Part 1:

Conducting assessments and training youngbloods was one of the most coveted jobs that came with the title of Vampire Prince. So coveted in fact that Mika, Arrow, and Vancha had to make an actual schedule to prevent fights from breaking out when they had to decide who got to spend their night watching youngbloods bash their skulls together (while giving them pointers on how to improve aforementioned skill), and who wanted to sit in the Hall of Princes and guard the Stone of Blood and listen to vampires complain. Technically Kurda was the one made the schedule. He stuck a large piece of paper up on the wall and made a colour-coded chart with Grace's pencil crayons. He was just tired of them flipping tables while he was trying to eat breakfast. Paris was out of the mountain for at least a year, so Mika, Arrow, and Vancha were unsupervised. Scratch that... they were the supervision. Kurda had known all three of them for decades and he figured they were just the three of the same person in different packaging. But in years since Gracie came into their lives he'd been pleasantly surprised as Mika inadvertently revealed himself to be more than another nocturnal hybrid between frat boy and caveman. Of course he certainly was both of those things, but he had a few extra layers that Kurda found fascinating. It never failed to amuse Kurda that Mika became an entirely different person when he was with Gracie. One minute he could be annihilating someone in a mock duel, then two minutes later he could be sitting on the floor as she carefully brushed his hair. This wasn't an exaggeration either, it happened at least once a week.

"Enoch, you're just going to have to wait a few minutes. I'm at the parlour." Was a real sentence spoken by Mika Ver Leth, with witnesses. Ask anyone.

"Your hair looks very pretty, Sire." Enoch had commented once Mika finally stepped into the ring with him.

"Thank you. I think so too."

Yes, Vampire Mountain ran on little Gracie's schedule. At least the parts that involved Mika. But he got away with it by doubling down on his service to the clan. He worked twice as hard and took on more extra responsibilities than Arrow and Vancha combined. He averaged 15-20 hours of sleep per week but not a soul ever heard him complain. Mika devoted his every shred of energy to serve the clan and whatever was left over was reserved for Grace and Grace only. Kurda had a full plate of his own responsibilities as well, but a General's schedule just didn't hold the same weight as a Prince's. Yet Mika still met him halfway at every turn. He never missed a chance to spend time with her, and that often meant compromising. Even if it meant cradling her in his arms while he delivered speeches or conducted meetings. But he executed his every duty without flaw. There wasn't a single vampire in the world that could find something to criticize.

Kurda tended to stay in his own lane where Mika was concerned. They only associated with each other as much as Gracie and clan affairs required them to. Which, to be fair was a lot. But it wasn't like they were mates or anything.

But that went out the window one day while Gracie was colouring and Kurda was minding his own business drawing up a map when Arrow's voice came thundering into his brain.

Ugh, Kurda thought. So Arrow does think as loud as he talks.

(It's not that Kurda doesn't like Arrow. He just... doesn't particularly care for Arrow.)

-Can you come to the Hall of Baker Wrent? Mika passed out for a sec. Fell off bars. -

-That doesn't sound like him. - Kurda replied, sitting up straight and setting his map on the floor next to him.

-I know you think I'm stupid but I'm pretty sure I know what Mika looks like and that's definitely him. - Arrow sounded a little miffed and Kurda had to snicker quietly to himself as he got up and left his cell, Gracie in tow.

-Wait. What do you need me for? - Kurda asked as the absurdity of Arrow's request dawned on him.

-Turns out he hasn't slept in four days. maybe you can convince him to bugger off and take a nap? I'm not getting anywhere.-

-Be there in a minute. But don't expect him to listen to me.-

Okay, now Kurda was a little concerned. First of all, four days?! Second of all, since when were Mika and Arrow not on the same wavelength?

Mika was still sitting on the floor when Kurda arrived. His face was unusually pale and his eyes were dull and sunken. He was looking up begrudgingly at Vanez who was sitting on an overturned mop bucket in front of him asking how many fingers he was holding up. Arrow was standing over them with his arms crossed, face stuck halfway between concern and exasperation. A gaggle of youngbloods stood nearby looking alarmed.

"You called him!?" The dark prince lamented as he saw Kurda approaching. Then he saw Grace by Kurda's side and the switch flipped. "Hi, Princess!"

"Hi Daddy!" Grace ran and gave him a hug, high-fiving Arrow and Vanez on her way past. Mika swiftly snapped back to Kurda Mode.

"Why did you call him?!"

"Because you're being stupid, that's why." Arrow informed him bluntly. Okay, Kurda had to admire that.

"I slipped!" Mika snapped vehemently. "Surely I'm allowed to slip once in my entire life."

"You fell thirty feet to the floor!" Arrow protested.

"With all due respect, Sire..." Vanez began sternly. "You need to get some rest. I promise you this will all still be here tomorrow."

"Vanez Blane, I could have you dropped on the stakes for this."

"But you won't." Vanez shot back without a moment's hesitation.

Damn, thought Kurda. If he'd known there was this much sass happening in the sporting halls, he'd be down here all the time. With popcorn. Also, Kurda knew for a fact that "I'll-drop-you-on-the-stakes" was a line Mika reserved exclusively for his dearest friends. It was just one of the few things about him that Kurda found impossibly amusing.

"Actually, I'm not here to help pick your sorry ass up off the ground." Kurda retorted swiftly. Mika frowned. "Grace needs a nap, she's been up since 6. And I have to go help Seba with something. I need you to take her for a couple hours so I can get a few things done."

The blond General stared down at the bedraggled-looking Prince with a satisfied expression. Arrow and Vanez chuckled quietly in appreciation. There was only one way to get Mika to leave the hall on his own voluntarily and Kurda had found it without even breaking a sweat Checkmate.

When Kurda got back to Gracie's little room 3 hours later, the sight tugged at his heartstrings harder than he dared admit. She was sound asleep in her miniature coffin snoring lightly, and Mika was flaked out on the floor next to her without even so much as a pillow. Kurda debated it for a moment but decided to be kind. He went to Mika's cell to retrieve a blanket from his coffin so he could carefully drape it over him. Mika slept for 14 hours straight and met up with them at breakfast the following night. He mumbled an apology, and that was that. They went about their day like nothing had happened. But that was the series of events that caused Kurda to plan the vacation.

One Month Later

It was important to both Mika and Kurda that Grace got to see more of the world than the inside of Vampire Mountain. She was about three and a half when the trio embarked on their first family vacation.

Technically it wasn't so much of a family vacation as it was a business trip for Mika, but it was the best opportunity they'd get. He had to go meet with a high-ranking Italian politician who had tracked down a band of vampire generals and expressed interest in "hiring" them to be his personal soldiers. The generals reported the offer back to the princes who unanimously agreed that it was better for the sake of the clan not to accept any role that would have them in the public eye. So that was that, but the princes were interested in how this man had tracked the vampires in the first place - Paris had heard of him before, and thought there may be more to the story. To make a very long story short, Mika was going to do some schmoozing and find out more about this man and whether the clan needed to take any further action to maintain their privacy.

Why on earth would this make an acceptable vacation for a very young child? Mika was planning to intercept with the mysterious politician at the most luxurious hotel in all of London during a governor's ball which took place on Saturday night. Mika and Kurda would take Grace and flit there several days in advance so they could see the sights and enjoy their time in the city. The day before the ball, Kurda would flit Grace home and Mika would remain at the hotel for an extra day to carry out his mission, then he would return to the mountain as well. This was going to be fun.

"Daddy! Is this a castle?!" Grace trilled as she galloped around their exorbitantly spacious suite upon arrival.

"Yep, it's a castle alright." Mika agreed as he checked things out.

"I'm a princess!" Grace squealed, staring awestruck up at the golden ceiling.

"You already were, my dear." Said Kurda with a jubilant smile as he flopped down on one of the the king-size canopied beds. Grace suddenly looked confused.

"Dad, Daddy, where are the coffins?"

"Well, sweetie... They don't sleep in coffins in this country." Mika explained slowly. Luckily Gracie was still at the age where vampire-human inconsistencies were easy to explain away.

"Every country has its own set of habits that make them different from the rest." Kurda elaborated earnestly. "It's called culture."

"Do we have culture?" Grace asked curiously as she burrowed into the mountain of plush pillows that adorned the bed.

Kurda had a momentary flashback to earlier that day when Arrow and Vancha had gotten into a fistfight over the last chicken wing which led to them knocking over an entire table.

"Yes, Grace. A rich, beautiful culture. Shall we go exploring?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy weekend, everyone! :) please leave a note if you feel so inclined - it would mean the world to me!
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> \- Roxy


	11. Vampires On Vacation - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Okay, now grab my hand - not my arm, my hand - there. Now you put your left arm around my waist. Oh, stop acting like a child. Your Prince friends aren't here to make fun of you. It's just you, me, Gracie, and those drunk girls over there."
> 
> If this was a vacation, Mika didn't see the appeal. 
> 
> ***
> 
> What else is there to do in a luxury hotel than crash a wedding reception at 3am for a spontaneous dance lesson?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! Here is part 2. This has been another chapter that was EXCEPTIONALLY fun to write.
> 
> Snippets of song lyrics are, of course, "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain. I remember being really into that song around the same time I was reading DSS for the first time so my brain has just associated those two things. And I couldn't resist sprinkling it in here!
> 
> Enjoy this - I did. :)

Vampires On Vacation

Part 2:

Once unpacked, they began to explore the hotel. It was around 2am, but to the nocturnal vampires (and Grace, who was essentially nocturnal by association) it felt like late afternoon. The hotel was vast and beautiful, and at this time of the day the halls were mostly empty except for the occasional drunk reveller making their way back to their rooms - there was a wedding reception going on in the grand ballroom. Later that week Mika would be conducting princely business in the very same room, but for the next few days he had nothing to worry about except the little girl tugging on his hand.

The trio lazily went about exploring the hotel, letting Gracie set the pace and stop to admire every beautiful painting and glorious fountain. They even turned a blind eye for a few moments so she could splash about in one of them.

It was about 3:30am when they passed the vast doorway that opened to the main ballroom. It was stunning, as big as any hall in Vampire Mountain. Marble pillars adorned the sides and gigantic crystal chandeliers hanging from the domed ceiling.

"Dad! Daddy! Dance!" Gracie shouted ecstatically, hearing the skippy upbeat tune coming from the ballroom. She grabbed their hands and pulled them through the doors where she hopped around waved her hands in the air. Mika and Kurda glanced cautiously around the room but it seemed there was hardly anyone awake to care that three strangers were intruding on the celebration. The band was still playing but the place had emptied out. A man in a tuxedo was passed out at one of the tables, and a gaggle of women was sitting nearby drinking wine and laughing boisterously. But that was all.

"Dance with me!" Grace demanded, taking Mika's hands in hers and jumping up and down as she grinned from ear to ear. Mika smiled ruefully and swayed his body awkwardly in an attempt to match her rhythm.

"That's the most pathetic excuse for dancing I've ever seen!" Kurda gasped in mock horror. "Gracie, get over here and let me show you how it's done."

She eagerly bounced over to the blond man and Kurda set about showing her how to move her body to the music, from her hands to her feet. She was positively shrieking in unbridled laughter as she imitated Kurda's moves.

And he was actually pretty good, Mika had to admit it. (Not out loud, of course). The blond general had a natural way of moving that made dancing look easy. Even while dancing "silly" to make Grace smile, he looked like he'd been born and raised right here in this ballroom. He sure hadn't learned that in Vampire Mountain. He looked so classic, so... cool.

"What are you looking at?" He chuckled at Mika over the steady beat of the music.

"I didn't know you could dance...not...horribly." Mika commented with some degree of awkwardness.

"What, like it's hard?"

"I'm sure it's very easy with a lot of practice."

"Oh, I never practice. I haven't danced in 40 years!" Said Kurda dismissively while doing a thing with his arms that Mika couldn't have mirrored if his life depended on it. "Come on!" He smirked, seeing Mika's incredulous expression.

"I'll leave it to you two. I see an unopened bottle of wine at that table over there..."

But Mika never made it to the table because Kurda grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the dance floor.

"You know you're going to have to dance at the ball on the weekend, right?" Kurda asked seriously, gripping Mika's wrists and moving his arms around like he was the world's most unenthusiastic puppet.

"I'm going there to commit casual espionage, Kurda. Not to embarrass myself."

"You DO realize how balls work, right? People dance. That's the point. You took on this mission because Arrow and Vancha don't know how to keep a low profile, they'd stick out like sore thumbs and get singled out in 5 minutes, right?"

"Right..."

"You're going to look stick out just as much if you stand on the sidelines like a gargoyle in a suit."

"I'm going to have a conversation with a notorious womanizer, Kurda. I don't expect he'll ask me to dance."

"Of course HE won't." Kurda sighed in exasperation. "But there'll be ladies there. You show up alone. They think you're an eligible bachelor. They ask you to dance. You act charming. You blend right in."

"I don't need to be charming! I just need to get some information!"

"You really don't understand how this works, do you? It's all just a big show. You look like them, you talk like them, you blend in... and they treat you like one of them. Which means they will tell you things."

Mika stares daggers at Kurda but realized he couldn't disagree with a single word the general had just said. Kurda was still "dancing" with him if you could call it that. His hands were clasped around Mika's forearms and sort of pumping them back and forth. Next to them, Grace twirled obliviously like a ballerina with a handful of balloons she'd found.

"Do I need to teach you?" Kurda offered. His tone was quite serious but his eyes twinkled. He was having too much fun with this.

"Kurda, there's nothing I would hate more."

"I didn't ask if you wanted my help. I asked if you needed it. There's a big difference there."

The dark prince rolled his eyes and heaved the most drawn-out sigh of melancholy he could possibly muster. But he relaxed his body ever so slightly and Kurda took that as a yes.

"Alright, there's really no rules to this. Just go with the music. Follow my lead." Kurda nodded encouragingly as he rocked his body along with the music. He did the funny arm thing again which made Mika groan.

"What the hell is that? You look like a mime."

"Sorry, I'll slow down. Just do what I do, watch."

And believe it or not, by the time the song ended, Mika could almost reproduce a passable version of Kurda's maneuvers. Almost. Kurda wondered how someone could fight with such coordination and skill, yet seemed to have zero awareness of his body in this environment. He had known Mika for several decades now but the prince was still proving to be full of surprises.

"Let's carry on, shall we?" Said Mika hopefully, gesturing at the door. A slow, heartfelt song had started to play. "We can check out the pool until the breakfast bar opens."

"Oh my dear friend, we've barely gotten warmed up!" Kurda replied with a sly smile. "Gracie, do you think we should teach daddy how to waltz?"

"YEAH YEAH YEAH!" Grace affirmed. She was still twirling, fascinated at how her dress flounced as she moved.

"No..." Mika whined. "That's enough for one day! We should really be getting Grace to bed. She's had a long day."

"Not tired, Daddy!"

"Mika, you did great with the last song. I mean it! Don't look at me like that! But this is the kind of music they'll be playing at the ball. You should know what you're getting into."

Mika knew he wasn't getting out of this one. He went limp and Kurda went to work.

"Okay, now grab my hand - not my arm, my hand - there. Now you put your left arm around my waist. Oh, stop acting like a child. Your Prince friends aren't here to make fun of you. It's just you, me, Gracie, and those drunk girls over there."

If this was a vacation, Mika didn't see the appeal.

"Now we're both going to step forward at the same time... good! Now we step to the right - your other right. Gods, Mika. I always thought you were smart but I think you just seem that way by comparison since you're usually standing next to Arrow."

"That was rude!" Mika protested.

"You distracted yourself! You're out of step, let's try again, from the top - there! That wasn't so hard. Now try to spin me."

"What?"

"Spin! Here, it's simple. Gracie, let's show Daddy how we spin. Just like we practiced." Kurda let go of Mika for a moment to take Grace's hand and demonstrate. They looked like a couple of Broadway professionals. "That was beautiful, thank you Sweetie!"

"Dad, let's show Daddy the dip!"

"Great idea. One...two...three!"

Kurda lowered her into a dainty little dip and pulled her smoothly back up.

"Ta daaaaaa!" Grace sang, springing into a little bow. Mika obliged her with a round of applause.

"Your turn." Said Kurda, firmly pulling Mika back in, ignoring a steady stream of protests. "Spin me... a little faster... not that fast... there you go! Now do the steps again, one, two... good! Alright. We're going to try the dip now. Ready? Just like Grace showed you."

"I think this is the perfect place to end this for toda- HEY!"

Kurda had dropped like a stone into a fake fall and Mika instinctively reached out and caught him.

"Did you do that on purpose?" Mika demanded as Kurda got back upright. The blond was snorting with amusement.

"See, was that so hard?" Kurda chuckled "That's essentially what a dip is, just a little more controlled. All you have to do is lower me down and pull me right back up. Dip. Pause. Pull. Ready?"

Mika sighed in defeat and finally, with his left arm supporting Kurda's slender back and their right hands joined together, he carefully lowered the blond general a few feet, and paused. Kurda grinned up at him with an infuriatingly triumphant expression on his face. Mika glared. And there they hung for a moment, realizing how bizarre life was. A Vampire Prince and a General, who didn't even get along particularly well, brought together in this ridiculous ballroom, at a stranger's wedding party... all because they made one impulse decision to whisk a little girl back to Vampire Mountain.

"Now you have to lift me back up." Kurda reminded him after a few seconds.

"Right, sorry." Mika did as he was told and they resumed the original set of movements they'd began with. They dipped a couple of times - Mika pretended to almost drop Kurda, to call it even. Grace started to tire out eventually, so they scooped her up and she snuggled between their chests as they swayed lazily with the music.

"And I-I-I-I'll be, your cryin' sho-o-ulder!" Kurda sang unabashedly. "I'll be, love suicide!"

"Oh good, you know the words!" Mika chipped in sarcastically. But he couldn't help but feel a little rush of appreciation. The more time they spent together the more he realized Kurda just truly didn't give a damn. He existed on his own terms and it wasn't up for negotiation.

"And I-I-I-I'll be, better when I'm old-e-e-er, and I'll be the gre-a-a-test fa-an of your li-i-i-fe!"

He sang to Grace and she babbled along with him. They were in their own little world together. Mika loved Grace as much as he would his own flesh and blood. He would fight for her til the ends of the earth, die for her if he had to. But nothing caused her face to light up the way it did when Kurda acted silly with her. Mika could watch them for hours. Sometimes he did.

But she was starting to nod off by the time the song ended, so the dance concluded. It turned out it was the band's last hurrah for the night anyway. Kurda held onto her and she nestled her head into the crook of his neck and closed her eyes. Mika "helped" the hotel staff clean up by scooping a few full bottles of wine from the tables as they made their way out of the ballroom.

"Night-night Dad. Night-night Daddy." Grace murmured sleepily as she nestled herself into a vast sea of pillows and blankets back in the suite.

"Night-night, Princess."

They each kissed her forehead and Mika tucked her in carefully. Kurda drew the blinds; the sun would be coming up shortly.

"Want some?" Mika whisperered as he lay back on the other bed with a pilfered bottle of wine in each hand.

"What vintage is it?" Kurda asked with interest as sat down at the foot of the bed in which Mika sat.

"What what is it?" Mika snorted incredulously.

"Vintage, it means- never mind, you don't care. Where are the glasses?"

"Here's your glass." Said Mika, lazily tossing one the unopened bottles to Kurda who quickly scrambled to catch it before it hit the floor.

"What are we, barbarians?" Kurda huffed. "Is there even a a corkscrew?"

"... And you think I'm clueless?!" Mika shot back. "Stay there. It's my turn to teach you something."

Mika shot Kurda a crooked grin and took the bottle back. He stood up, disappeared into the luxurious marble bathroom and came back with a towel. He wrapped the bottle in the towel and slammed the bottle against the wall. With decisive POP, the cork rocketed out and bounced off the wall. The both looked automatically at Grace but she remained fast asleep. Mika passed the uncorked bottle back to Kurda and picked up his own from the bedside table.

"Cheers, General Smahlt."

"What are we toasting, Sire Ver Leth?"

"Does it have to be something?"

"It might as well!"

"Fuck, Kurda. I don't know. You tell me. You seem to enjoy doing that."

"Nope, this one's all yours. Anything you want."

"Fine. Cheers to escaping Vampire Mountain for a couple days and spending a week in grossly overpriced hotel with my f-" he paused to carefully consider his next words. "With the small child I am responsible for and my fellow adult man with whom I co-parent." He finished.

Kurda smiled sneakily as Mika tipped the bottle of wine to his lips.

"You were going to say family, weren't you?"

"Drink your wine, Kurda."

It was a tiny strip of sunlight peeking through the curtains that eventually woke Mika up. He slowly creaked his eyelids open and sat up. Then he realized the room was spinning. And that there was an all-too-familiar ache to his head; he groaned as he saw the empty wine bottles on the nightstand. He could remember getting shamelessly hammered with Kurda but that was it.

He glanced at the clock, it was only 6pm. (For reference, their usual wake up time ranged from 7:30-8 pm). So Grace was still asleep - bless her and her rock-solid sleep schedule. But there was a distinct lack of Kurda in the room. It didn't take long to find him, though. He was laying in a fetal position on the bathroom's cool marble floor, right next to the toilet. It was impossible to tell whether he was asleep or just hiding from the world. Mika stifled a snort of laughter. He felt pretty ill himself, but definitely not that bad. His hangover seemed to be contained to just his head which he'd prefer over nausea any day. Kurda clearly wasn't so lucky. Mika had to take a moment to compose himself before heading in. He respected Kurda, honestly. It was just so funny.

"How's it going down there?" He asked in a voice of mock concern, gently prodding Kurda's leg with his toe. Kurda whimpered something indecipherable and covered his face.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that." Mika chuckled, stepping over him to perch on the edge of the marble bathtub which was more like a small inground pool.

"Go away."

"But I want to take a bath. Why don't you go back to bed?"

"This is where I live now." Kurda mumbled. He reached up and dragged a towel off the rack then pulled it over himself like a blanket. Then he rolled over so his back was facing Mika.

"Wine hangovers are nasty. That's why I usually stick to ale." Mika shut the door, turned on the hot water and began peeling his clothes off slowly. This really wasn't as shocking as it sounds; Vampire Mountain's bathing area was a shared space. Everyone had seen each other's junk at some point through the decades. The only thing unusual here was the opportunity to take a warm bath - which Mika was quite looking forwards to. They always made sure Grace had warm water for her baths, but it's a lot harder to heat up enough water for a grown man. There was even bubble soap here. Mika hadn't taken a bubble bath since the night they found Gracie and he'd gotten himself into a messy situation while attempting to change her diaper. It was only now, almost 3 years later that the memory made him smile.

"Why do you get to be fine?" Kurda groaned, face pressed against the floor.

"Oh, don't worry. I feel awful too." Mika shrugged, easing himself into the tub with a satisfied sigh as the hot water enveloped him. "Just not as awful as you."

"What time is it?"

"Little after 6. Grace still won't be up for a while. We're good."

Kurda went silent for a while and Mika figured he'd fallen asleep. Mika closed his own eyes and rested his head against the wall hoping the coolness would soothe his pounding head. He didn't allow himself to fall asleep - if he heard Grace waking up he would be out of the tub, dried off and fully dressed in under 60 seconds. But for now, he appreciated this rare moment of peace. He let the heat of the bath radiate life back into his tired body, he swirled the bubbles around in his hands, and he ignored the fact that Kurda was doing a decent impression of a lifeless corpse a few feet away. That is, until the puking started, and ignoring him was no longer an option.

"Ugh. Charna's Guts." Mika grumbled. But he did reach out to gently pat Kurda's back as he retched pitifully. Finally, it had run it's course and Kurda very, very slowly sat up. He saw Mika's impressive heap of bubbles and smiled weakly.

"Do you remember when-"

"-When we spent the day at the motel after we found Gracie, and the clerk thought we'd kidnapped her and almost called the police. Then we fed Gracie Doritos, then you left for two hours and I tried to change her diaper alone but I didn't know how to do it so I just put her in the sink and I got in the bathtub and used an entire bottle of soap. I remember all of it." Mika chuckled with a grin.

Now Kurda was laughing too. He looked like he was in a lot of pain, but was giggling to himself nevertheless. He paused to take a breath, and asked:

"Is there room for me in there?"

So they lounged in the bathtub for 45 minutes, swapping memories back and forth. The time Gracie got lost in Vampire Mountain and they ran around for an hour panicking and yelling at each other. The time Kurda was holding her while delivering a speech to a room full of Generals and she threw up all over him and he carried on like nothing happened. The time she surprised Mika with Lovely, the pet tarantula that "Grampa Seba" had given her and Mika literally fainted in front of at least 2 dozen people upon seeing it. The time they walked in on her trying to teach Larten Crepsley the alphabet. The time she pulled out a chunk of Paris' beard because he sneezed while holding her. And so on and so forth.

"Kurda, I'm glad you convinced me to do this." Said Mika after a pause in conversation. "I think I needed it. But you know I wouldn't have figured that out on my own." He admitted regretfully.

"That's why I did it." Kurda grinned lazily, only his head sticking out of the bubbles. "You're one of the most intelligent vampires in the entire clan. And somehow also one of the most thick-headed. You're a fascinating enigma."

"Thank you."

"But really, maybe you should slow down a little bit. Remember when you fell off the bars and Arrow had to call me? You'd gone four days without sleep, for what? You could've broken your neck. Then what would Grace and I do?"

"Arrow completely overreacted." Mika rolled his eyes and sunk further down into the bubbles.

"What we aren't going to do is blame this on Arrow. Why do you push yourself that hard? You have nothing left to prove. There's not a soul in this world who can touch you."

"That's why I have to work so hard, Kurda!" Mika shot back, exasperated. "It's not enough to do well for a few decades just to get promoted and start slacking off. If I put anything ahead of the clan, even just one time, I'll never hear the end of it. I love Grace more than anything in the world! I'd do anything for her, I always will. but I can have the best of both worlds. If it means running myself into the ground, I'm going to do it." He continued with weary conviction. "This is my life now. I may not have planned to find Gracie, but I wouldn't trade any of it for anything."

Kurda quietly spent a moment absorbing all of that. Although he and Mika knew the ins and outs of each other's lives they never really talked about any of it. Kurda he had underestimated Mika's level of self-awareness.

"Mika, listen to me because I'm probably not going to say this again. I'm proud of you. You're one of the best princes in history, and you're also a better dad than any I've ever heard of. You're right, we didn't plan any of this but we did choose it. But that doesn't mean we're both in it alone separately. We're in it together. I will always be here to help you, you understand? You can lean on me when you need to. Not that it would make you less of a Prince - but I wouldn't tell anyone if you asked for help every now and then."

Mika looked more relaxed now. He nodded slowly, taking it all in.

"Now you listen to me, because I definitely won't be saying this again." He finally said. "Thank you, Kurda. I couldn't handle any, and I mean any of this without you. I'm serious, Grace and I would probably still be living in that motel room living off Doritos. So thank you for steering us in the right direction that day, and every day after. Thank you for every time you've talked me down when I felt like the world was crashing down around me. And more than anything, thank you for loving Gracie as much as I do."

"Always." Kurda replied simply.

They drained the tub and got dressed. It was 7:30 now. Mika couldn't remember the last time he'd slept in past 5, it felt incredible. Then they called room service and ordered breakfast. Keep in mind it this is PM; not AM - but the hotel staff had dealt with stranger requests than breakfast for dinner so they quickly brought up a tray of heaping tray of waffles, bacon, scones, and fresh fruit. They woke Gracie up and she was overjoyed by all the food that had magically appeared before her. They all reclined in in the enormous king-sized bed, Mika on the right side, Kurda on the left, and Gracie wedged in the middle. They watched silly television, they talked and laughed. After breakfast they made their way down to the lavish outdoor pool. The sky was still light but the sun had sank below the other side of the building so there was no burn risk for the vampires. Mika and Kurda put on their new swim trunks for the first time and Grace donned her pink swimsuit, and they splashed and played without a care in the world until long after the sky had turned dark.


	12. Vampires On Vacation - Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Don't flatter yourself, Smahlt. I'm more than just a pretty face."
> 
> "Yes, Sire Ver Leth. You're very lucky you've got a lot more going for you than just your face."
> 
> ***
> 
> Mika and Kurda find themselves inadvertently child-free for a night. The city bar they find themselves in about as far from Vampire Mountain as it gets. Shall we dance?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday, friends :)
> 
> This chapter is paired with Magic In The Hamptons by Social House. Honestly, last week I was just driving around town enjoying the sunshine, listening to music and rocking out to this song at one point... and that directly influenced how this chapter played out. If you aren't familar with the song you should give it a listen. The lyrics don't fit 100% but the music has such a fun, lazy, carefree beat and that's the exact mood I wanted for this part of the story.
> 
> Enjoy!

Vampires On Vacation (aka Best Drink I Take Is When I'm Sippin' You)

Part 3:

Are you tired from running through my mind?  
Take a break and we can have a good time  
Show you moves like I'm the new James Brown  
Me and you should get a room right now

'Cause if it's gold, I'll throw it away  
You're worth more than every single chain  
It ain't gon' work if you don't want it to  
Best drink I take is when I'm sippin' you

You know where I go when we're dancing  
Handshakes in The Hamptons and gettin' drunk in the mansions with you  
And you look so classic, come through with that magic  
You know that I'm 'bout to smash it, it's true

***

The end of the week in London brought a pleasant surprise. It came in the form of Arrow nonchalantly climbing in through their suite window out of nowhere. It was the middle of the night and they'd just finished "breakfast". (The hotel staff was starting to get a little tired of the fact that they ordered breakfast each day around 8pm, lunch at midnight and supper anywhere between 5am-7am. But the two mysteriously nocturnal men tipped generously so there were no real issues).

"Uncle Arrow!" Grace shrieked joyfully, galloping into his open arms.

"Fancy meeting you here, Princess Grace!" Arrow greeted her in mock surprise as he picked her up and spun her around.

"They'll let anyone in here these days!" Mika smirked at his friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Paris sent me." Arrow grinned, setting Grace back down and throwing his body unceremoniously into one of the vacant beds. The room shook. "He thought you might need some backup, or a diversion or something. Just in case! I'll stay out of your way unless you need me, though. What's good on TV this decade?"

Grace leaped onto the bed next to him and rattled off a list everything she'd seen that week.

"Wow!" Said Arrow. "That's quite a list. I think I'd better let you choose for me. I can't remember the last time I handled one of these!" He handed her the remote and reclined into the pillows with his hands behind his head.

"Yes, please do leave your boots on." Kurda commented scathingly. Arrow laughed good-naturedly and kicked one off, then the other.

"We'll just leave a bigger tip for the cleaners." Said Mika reasonably, looking at the dirt Arrow had tracked in.

"How's the vacation been so far?" Arrow asked, grabbing a handful of the complimentary chocolates that sat on the nightstand.

"So fun!" Said Grace. "We went dancing and shopping and we saw a museum and a circus and a palace and we swam in the pool every day and we rode in a carriage!"

"That sounds like the greatest time! I'm jealous!" Arrow grinned. "You've been busy. No wonder Daddy has a few new grey hairs since last week."

"You don't know the half of it." Mika chuckled, flopping down on the other bed while Kurda perched on the ornate loveseat across from them. "It's been great, though... Busy, yes. But the good kind."

"And?" The tattooed Prince encouraged.

"...and it was good for me." Mika grumbled reluctantly.

"Arrow, you have NO idea the lengths I've had to go to, to make him admit that." Kurda quipped with a mock grimace. Arrow let out a booming laugh.

"I can only imagine! Good on you, General Smahlt. Gods know I couldn't get through to him! Well you look good, Mika. Hell of a lot better than you did last time I saw you, anyway."

Mika threw a pillow at him.

"Hey, thanks." Said Arrow happily, tucking it behind his back. "Hope you're ready to charm the pants off that governor on Saturday. Not literally, of course. Unless it comes to that - then you have my blessing. Take one for the clan."

Even Kurda had to laugh at that one. They lounged around for several hours, joking and snacking and watching whatever Grace put on the TV. Truthfully, Mika and Kurda were both tired from several packed days of playing tourist so they didn't mind indulging in some laziness. But the entire experience had been wonderful for Grace, so they were glad they'd done it.

"Alright, Gracie." Said Mika a little later. "I'll grab your coat and you put your shoes on, okay? Last night in the big city!"

"Big plans?" Asked Arrow.

"We're going to take a walk around the river. There's supposed to be a live band in the park!" Said Kurda happily. "You're welcome to join us."

Arrow hummed thoughtfully for a moment.

"I think I'll stay here, but thank you. I'm rather worn out. It was a long flit to get here. And it's not often I get to enjoy a bed like this! I my beauty sleep, after all." He chuckled. Gracie cracked up at the thought of the word "beauty" associated with Uncle Arrow.

"So am I to ignore that you haven't mentioned anything about getting your own room for the night?" Kurda noted drily.

"It's fine. He can have my bed, you and Grace can have that one, and I'll take the couch thing." Said Mika unbotheredly.

"Fair enough. Shall I braid your hair before we go, Gracie?" Kurda offered.

"I stay here with Uncle Arrow." Grace whined. "I tired. Want to watch TV."

Mika and Kurda exchanged a glance. The girl had already had a great deal of excitement that week. Which was saying something because her everyday life was rarely dull.

"I don't mind at all." Said Arrow instantly. "We can order room service. I haven't had pizza in 15 years. Maybe I need my own vacation..."

"You should go for it." Said Kurda casually. "Don't wait til you plummet 30 feet off the bars and look like a fool."

Mika threw a pillow at him too.

"Hell is real, and we're at the gate." Mika muttered darkly an hour later. It was raining, which meant the outdoor band had been cancelled. They'd grabbed a quick snack from a food truck and ate them quickly in a sheltered corner between two buildings. Then they darted into the first establishment they saw that served drinks.

"Oh, Charna's Guts, Mika!" Kurda rolled his eyes as they sat down at the bar. "It's not that bad. It's just more...uh...posh than you're used to."

It was a swanky upscale downtown bar. Not a stuffy old pub, but also not a grimy, sweaty nightclub type of thing. It had a classily cool atmosphere to it. Or so Kurda thought as he looked around eagerly. The music was upbeat and fun, and most of their fellow patrons looked to be about their age. Not their real ages, of course. But they could both pass for early thirties if they cleaned up nicely.

"I've never heard of any of this." Mika huffed as he read the drink menu. "Champagne mojito? The fuck is a mojito? Cosmopolitan? Pornstar Martini?! Ugh." He pushed the menu aside decisively. "I'm going to find the bathroom. Order me a pint of ale. Normal ale. Not pornstar ale."

Kurda snorted. Mika left, and returned within two minutes. That was all the time Kurda needed.

"By the black blood of Harnon Oan, Kurda! That's not ale!" He whined. In front of his seat was a glass fishbowl full of lime green liquid, ice, and fruit. Umbrellas garnished the top. Kurda had an identical one in front of him. He was sipping on a straw and eyeing Mika innocently.

"It's a Fishbowl." He explained simply.

"I can see that. What the hell's in it?"

"Take a sip and find out."

Mika did as he was told. Kurda watched him take a long sip, pause, cringe, think about it a little more, take another sip, cringe (less dramatically this time) and sip again. They sat side-by-side, slowly sipping their fishbowls until only ice remained. The nice thing about being a vampire is that you can enjoy more than one fishbowl before becoming ludicrously drunk - but one was enough to make Mika considerably less bitter.

"What's next?" He inquired in a very businesslike manner. He scanned the menu as though plotting a Vampaneze strike on a map. "What's a... Triple-Stacked Strawberry Daiquiri?"

"I'd be interested in finding out." Kurda affirmed in a tone of equal seriousness. He caught the bartender's eye. "You get that, I'm trying an Angry Apple Martini. We can sample each other's."

Those drinks came, and they went much faster than the fishbowls.

"I don't know why Arrow's always talking shit about fruit. Fruit is GOOD." Mika declared loudly, slurping down the liquor-soaked strawberry he found at the bottom of his drink. "Even Grace eats fruit."

"See what can happen when you step outside your comfort zone?" Said Kurda impishly. Mika ignored him.

"I'm going to make strawberry daiquiris when we get home. I can picture it now. Official drink of the Festival of the Undead."

"I like where your mind is, but I don't think the clan will rally around something pink and full of fruit. Let's try another one."

Next up was a Wacked-Out Whiskey Sour for Mika and an Easy Sleezy Lemon Squeezy for Kurda.

"Who names these?" Mika cackled as he combed the menu for his next pick before the third round even arrived. "I think I'm going to retire from Prince-ing and become a professional drink-namer. I mean, look at this! Sex On The Driveway? Who thinks of this?" He slapped the table in hilarity.

Kurda decided right then and there that Tipsy Mika was his new favourite thing in the world. It was truly incredible.

Round three turned into round four, and four into five which went down just as easily as any of them. The music was getting louder, and when they looked up from their glasses they realized they were both gently swaying their bodies to the beat. They stood up at the same time, to Kurda's pleasant surprise. He was fully prepared to drag Mika kicking and screaming onto the dance floor. But the dark prince extended his hand smoothly while smirking as if he was some sassily awkward combination of James Bond and Tony Stark. Kurda laughed out loud and took it.

"Who are you and where did you stash Mika?" The blond General teased as they maneuvered easily around each other. "I've never met this man in my life!"

"I'm an expert now." Mika shrugged. "Remember when you showed me all this four days ago?" He truly seemed like an entirely different person than the one Kurda almost had to blackmail into showing him one simple dance step. He seemed completely self-assured and at ease, as though he was simply going through a training exercise back home in the Hall of Games.

"Then I must be a miracle worker."

"Don't flatter yourself, Smahlt. I'm more than just a pretty face."

"Yes, Sire Ver Leth. You're very lucky you've got a lot more going for you than just your face."

"Well, I think my face is pretty."

"I think you'd be prettier if you smiled more." Kurda shot back deviously.

Mika tried to pretend he was offended, but his notoriously irritated facial expression was malfunctioning tonight.

"You are the worst." He retorted with a noticeable twinkle in his dark eyes.

"You should've thought of that before you had a kid with me."

"I didn't HAVE a kid with you. I FOUND a kid with you. Big difference."

That made both of them crack up. Kurda felt literal tears in the corners of his eyes. They were still dancing, though. And they were so in sync with each other, an outsider might have thought they did this every Friday night.

"Of all the people I could've found a kid with, I'm glad it was you." Said Kurda as he slowly spun out with his right hand in Mika's.

"Me too. Otherwise I never would have tried a strawberry daiquiri." Said Mika, gently pulling him back in.

"I used to think you were such a prick." Kurda commented offhandedly.

"Yeah? I mean, I knew that. But what changed?"

"Now? Now I know you're a prick."

Cue more laugter.

"Want to hear a funny story?" Mika asked with a sideways grin.

"Hit me."

"Have I ever told you I was the one who put your name in for General?"

Kurda stopped dancing. Just stood frozen there in the middle of the floor, with his left arm around Mika's shoulder and their right hands intertwined.

"Pardon the fuck out of me?" Kurda choked out after a moment. (If you recall Kurda's policy on cussing, you'll remember he has to be either really shocked or really drunk and right now he's both.)

"True story."

"I always thought... Paris. Or Azis." Kurda stuttered, slackjawed.

"Nope. All me."

"You hated me back then!"

"I didn't hate you." Mika corrected simply. "Although I didn't necessarily like you either. But you were smart, and resourceful, and so... unashamed. You knew exactly who you were, and you made no apologies for it. You always impressed me, even when I wanted to push you off the top of the mountain." The dark prince paused for a moment. "Arrow and I almost ended our friendship over it."

Kurda's jaw dropped a little further. They were still swaying around the dance floor, but carelessly, not paying attention to what their bodies were doing. Autopilot was on.

"Sorry, Mika. I'm just having a hard time understanding this. You risked your best friendship to promote someone you didn't even like?" Kurda's eyes looked like they were going to fall out of his head.

"Well, you know what happened to his wife... he lost all ability to see a gray area in the whole Vampaneze debate. Your uh, open-mindedness has never sat that well with him, although he's really been trying the past few years. I'd die for that man but it's like trying to reason with a stone wall when it comes to that. Arrow's protective instincts make him an asset as a Prince. But the overall benefit of the clan has always been my endgame. Long story short: I knew you'd be good for us in the long run, so I set it in motion."

"So you used me as a pawn for your ambitious political agenda?" Kurda questioned with a playful half-smile. He tilted his head to the side thoughtfully as he looked up at Mika.

"I guess? In the nicest way possible." Mika answered plainly. He dropped Kurda into a surprise dip, but the blond didn't miss a beat and they went down and back up smoothly.

"Didn't take you long to figure that move out." Kurda commented.

"What, like it's hard?" Mika mimicked what the blond had told him several nights ago.

Kurda laughed softly and gently rested his head on Mika's chest as they drew back together. Neither of them thought twice about it. They rocked back and forth for several minutes. The music was just so good and the drinks had been so strong.

"I want you on the thrones next to me someday." Mika blurted out suddenly.

"On the what now?" Kurda flinched and jerked backwards.

"I'm serious. You should be a Prince." Mika replied, easily meeting Kurda's stunned gaze. "You'd be great."

"Mika..." Kurda croaked weakly. "You can't just go around handing out promotions, General is one thing, but a Prince..."

"It wouldn't be able to come from me." Mika admitted. "At this point it would look like blatant favouritism regardless of how well you earned it, and it would reflect badly on both of us. But you don't need me to get you there, Kurda. Look at you. Just give it some time and a little more extra work, it'll fall into place. But you'd have to want it. If you did, it would be within your reach. And I'd support you however you needed."

Kurda said nothing. His eyes were fixed on a the wall and his face was blank, but his mind was running a mile a minute. Mika knew not to pressure him for a response, so instead he gently pulled him back into his chest so Kurda could rest his head there once again. It was 3am now. The bar was nearly empty.

"It's my turn to tell you a funny story." Said Kurda after a while.

"No way it's better than mine."

"No." Kurda admitted. "But it's close."

Mika laughed and Kurda could feel it vibrate in his ear.

"Tell me."

"Paris didn't send Arrow out here to be your backup. I asked him to come."

"You what?"

Mika grabbed Kurda's shoulders and held him at arm's length - very gently, in an affectionately surprised way.

"Even on vacation you're always working. Making sure Gracie's eating well, sleeping enough, and learning as much as she can possibly absorb about life outside Vampire Mountain..." Kurda started to explain.

"Yeah? So are you, that was the point of this." Mika was still smiling disconcertedly.

"Arrow and I planned this last week. It wasn't random chance that he volunteered to stay in the room and take care of her. I wanted you to have just one night away from everything. The Gracie stuff, and the vampire stuff. One night where you could just be free... to be whoever the hell you are when you aren't carrying the world on your shoulders."

Mika's face slowly morphed from dumbstruck to awestruck. He tilted his head and studied Kurda's face perplexedly for a solid minute. And then, in a way that felt impulsive yet somehow entirely pre-meditated, he kissed him.

It only lasted for a moment, then Mika drew back sharply and gasped,

"Sorry. That wasn't appropriate."

Kurda arched his eyebrows in his typical "Are-you-effing-serious" manner. Then he slipped his hands around Mika's face and pulled him right back in. They were both on the sillier end of tipsy, but the kiss itself felt anything but.

They were the last patrons to leave the bar at 3:30am. They walked the city streets together, exploring and effortlessly conversing with each other til they sobered up and the sun began to peek above the horizon. At 7am they finally headed back to the hotel. Their suite was covered with evidence that a great time was had. There were pillows everywhere, a pizza box, candy wrappers, and several empty soda bottles (to Kurda's mild annoyance). The TV was tuned to The Wiggles (Mika grimaced as he momentarily went back in time to the night he spent in the motel after finding Grace and was forced to watch it). Arrow and Gracie were both dead asleep, he was snoring loudly on his back and she was curled up in the crook of his arm.

Mika and Kurda were exhausted. They sat down (for what was supposed to be a moment) on the empty bed but fell asleep there, side by side. On top of the covers and still fully clothed. Neither of them had ever slept so soundly in their lives.

***

I can take you to the room or I can take you to the beach  
But we gotta leave at nine 'cause I gotta get my sleep  
You can be that early bird, I'ma get that worm  
Get with me, I'll take you 'round the world

'Cause if it's gold, I'll throw it away  
You're worth more than every single chain  
Walk with a limp, it just means I'm cool  
Next trip I take, it's just me and you

You know where I go when we're dancing  
Handshakes in The Hamptons and gettin' drunk in the mansions with you  
And you look so classic, come through with that magic  
You know that I'm 'bout to smash it, it's true


	13. Hyphenated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mika frowned and looked back at the form.
> 
> "Are we sure we can't just raise her as a illiterate mountain barbarian? She'd be equally happy either way."
> 
> ***
> 
> Mika and Kurda start filling out school forms and things come up that they'd rather not think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! Got a nice long chapter here for your enjoyment :) This brings a bit of a change in tone, this story keeps straying further and further from it's original destiny which was to be a crackfic where things don't need to make sense.
> 
> Enjoy!

One year turned into two, two turned into three, and eventually the question of "is Gracie going to live here forever?" Was shelved. Vampire Mountain became her home. It was as much a part of her as she was a part of it. She celebrated her 5th birthday in the Hall of Khledon Lurt surrounded by a gang of honourary uncles and aunt: Arrow, Vanez, Vancha, Larten, Arra, Gavner. Her two 'grandfathers', Papa Paris and Grampa Seba. And at the core of it all, her guardians-in-chief - Mika and Kurda. Or, "dad and daddy." They didn't know her real birthday, but they celebrated the anniversary of the day they found her.

She was loved, so very loved. But Mika and Kurda didn't take their guardianship lightly. Their lives had been devoted to giving their unofficial daughter a fair chance at eventually being able to lead a normal life as a human. They brought in books, toys, and clothes. They took her on short trips to human villages to see the sights. And Kurda taught her to read and write with such proficiency, by the age of 5 she had better literacy skills than a few fully-grown vampires who never had the opportunity to learn such things for themselves. She was a bright, happy girl. Adored by everyone that knew her, and well on her way to being fluent in 3 different languages.

But it wasn't enough. Mika and Kurda both knew it although they didn't like to admit it. They couldn't just keep her in Vampire Mountain til she got old enough to be released into the world. She needed humans, she needed friends her own size. She needed school.

They started making arrangements well in advance. The year she turned 6 would be the year she started school. It took a while to come together, but the time everything was finalized they were quite confident in the plan they'd set out. There was a boarding school nearby. In this case "nearby" was about a 1000 kilometre trek but Mika had the privilege of picking and choosing when to follow the old rule about flitting within range of the mountain, and he extended the same privilege to Kurda when Grace was concerned. The school was very old and very beautiful. Paris had a contact on the inside - the headmaster was an old friend of his, a half-vampire who'd chosen to defect back to the world of humans after giving vampirism a try. Many called him a coward but Mika and Kurda called him a damn good connection. They had both met with the man and taken a tour of the school before making a decision. She would be no different than any other boarding school child. The only difference was that she would come home to a mountain rather than a house during holidays. Coming to that decision in the first place was difficult enough although they both agreed it was the best course of action. But the months and followed were harder than either of them could have imagined.

"Mika, you filled this form out wrong!" Kurda exclaimed one evening as they filled out Gracie's school paperwork. Paris has a dusty old desk tucked away in one of the storage rooms so they'd been camped out there for the past two hours.

"Her full name is not Grace Smahlt Ver Leth. It's Grace Smahlt-Ver Leth. Now we have to do the whole thing over again!" Kurda groaned.

"You just said the same name twice. Do you need to take a break?"

"No, look at it!" Kurda insisted, waving the paper in front of Mika's nose. Mika snatched it away and inspected it carefully.

"I truly don't know what you're talking about. I don't see anything wrong here."

"You put my last name down as her middle name!" Kurda sighed in exasperation. Her last name is Smahlt-Ver Leth. It's hyphenated."

"That's what I wrote!"

"No it isn't! You didn't add the hyphen! This document indicates Smahlt as her middle name and Ver Leth as her last name."

"Does it really matter?" Mika protested. "Smahlt-Ver Leth is so long and clumsy. Plus she needs a middle name anyway. We both know who she is. She knows who she is. Who cares what it says on the forms? The school is going to file them away and never look at them again."

"Mika, what's my middle name?" Kurda glared shrewdly.

"I... ummm... John?" Mika guessed without conviction.

"No!"

"Well, how am I supposed to know?"

"Exactly! No one knows anyone's middle name! If she officially goes by Grace Ver Leth, that's all anyone will know her as!"

"Don't say that! Everyone knows she's our kid." Mika replied with dismay.

"In our world, yes! But her world's about to get a lot bigger. That's the whole reason we're filling out these forms. Remember years ago we made a pact to always do the right things for her, even when it's difficult for us. Well, that's what this is. We're at that part."

Mika frowned and looked back at the form.

"Are we sure we can't just raise her as a illiterate mountain barbarian? She'd be equally happy either way."

"Not funny. Plus she's already more literate than just about anyone else in this place. The bar is pretty low, but still."

Mika couldn't help but laugh at that. It was true, she was reading well above her age level thanks to Kurda's determination.

"Isn't 6 a little young to move 1000 kilometres away for 10 months of the year?" The dark Prince wondered aloud several minutes later, earning an irritated exhale from Kurda.

"Mika, I can't keep having this conversation." Kurda groaned. "Yes, I do think it's too young - for human children with other options! But imagine how much harder it will be for her to adjust if we wait any longer! She's old enough to know what's going on, but young enough that she can still assimilate into a different way of life relatively easily."

"I know." Mika grunted. "It was rhetorical." But Kurda wasn't listening.

"That's been our plan this whole time. She's a human. And she needs to be able to thrive as a human. Finding this school was the best thing that could've happened, the headmaster is literally a half-vampire. It's not going to get any better than this." The blond rambled in a way that seemed like he was talking to himself more so than Mika.

"I know." Mika sighed again.

They sat quietly for a moment. Then Mika had a thought.

"Hey, what would we do if she ever wanted to... you know." He shot Kurda a look and held up his hand and looked at his scarred fingertips from being blooded so so long ago.

"I hope that day never comes." Said Kurda heavenly.

"It might, though. She's going to get older and smarter. Eventually she'll be thinking for herself and we should be prepared if it comes up. One day she'll be a teenager, you know."

Kurda considered that for a moment.

"I wouldn't do it." He answered flatly. "I don't want this life for her. It's one thing to carry her around the mountain as a little kid, but to live her whole life as an actual vampire? I don't know if I could handle it... the Trials of Initiation, the feeding, the violence of it all... it can just get so ugly. I can't bear to think of her living like that."

"I certainly wouldn't choose it for her either." Said Mika evenly "I don't disagree with you in the slightest. But you know perfectly well that if someone wants something, they'll go do it themselves. She's going to be headstrong. We can control whether or not we blood her, but we lose that control if she goes running across the world and finds someone who will blood her, just because we told her no. And you know damn well what the average unsupervised-" (He placed heavy emphasis on 'unsupervised') "-cub's life looks like when they start out. The shit they get into makes the Festival of the Undead look like Bible Camp by comparison."

Kurda glared at Mika but said nothing.

"If she asked me as a teenager, I'd tell her it's not up for discussion." Mika continued. "Absolutely, unequivocally not on the table until she's an adult. Then if she came to me as an adult and still wanted to join the clan, I'd make a deal with her. She'd have to spend at least 5 years detached from Vampire Mountain, go live exclusively among humans. She'd need to give humanity a fair chance. And if after all of that, she still wanted this life... well, then I'd blood her. At least that way it would be done safely."

"I can see you've thought long and hard about this. So you're prepared to turn her into a vampire but you can't get her fucking name right on a legal document?" Kurda spat back venomously, eyes blazing.

Mika sat stunned for several moments. It took him a moment to process what he was feeling because it was something he'd never associated with Kurda before. Hurt. But decades of politics had him well-trained in maintaining his composure, so he didn't falter externally.

"How did you manage to get that from what I said?" He asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

Kurda made an indecipherable growl of frustration and threw his pencil against the wall, then stood up abruptly and shoved his chair backwards. It was an outburst most unlike him. Mika sighed wearily.

"Kurda, we have to be able to talk about this... I know it's early but you might as well prepare yourself. I have."

He found himself talking to the blond General's back as he got up from the desk and strode quickly out of the room without a backwards glance.

And that was just one of the arguments that broke out in the weeks leading up to Grace's departure from Vampire Mountain. Sometimes it was about how often they should visit, whether they should get a temporary house near the school, the list went on and on. But somehow the topics of discussion always jumped years further than it needed to and they inevitably clashed over how they wanted to handle Grace's ties to the vampire clan as she got older. She was only 6, they didn't need to agonize over something so far away but the reality was it weighed constantly on both of their minds and tainted everything else.

Kurda's biggest fear was Gracie being blooded. Simple.

Mika's biggest fear was Gracie being blooded by someone else. Less simple.

The gray area was impossible to navigate. It was exhausting, they went from operating as a seamless unit to keeping a cool distance from each other. Mercifully, Grace was so excited about her upcoming "big adventure" that she was even more bubbly and exuberant than normal. The halfblooded headmaster of the school, Aydon Redford, even made the journey to Vampire Mountain to meet her in person a month before the school year began, and she took an immediate shine to him. He showed her pictures of the beautiful school grounds and told her all about the the teachers she was going to meet. She got keener by the day. It was the one silver lining they could each cling to -separately- in the final countdown. What a conventional parent would experience as simple "first day of school jitters" was compounded exponentially by the many, many unconventional layers that were unique to their situation. Nothing could just be simple.

The hardest pill to swallow was that they'd have no way to contact to her directly from the mountain. It comforted them to know there would be a half-vampire presiding over her but he also had a thousand children to worry about, not to mention half-bloods lacked the ability to communicate in telepathy the way a full vampire could. Aydon had some full-blood contacts in the area that could relay a message to the mountain if need be, but somehow that just didn't feel like enough. They'd prepared her as well as they possibly could but it would never feel like enough.

When the Grace's last full day in the mountain arrived, neither Mika nor Kurda could even look each other in the eye. Kurda took his turn with Grace first. He woke her up and took her outside the mountain for a long walk in the forest. She skipped around weightlessly, alternating between singing loudly and asking Kurda every question she could think of.

"Dad, what do you think my best friend's name will be?"

"I don't know, Darling. But you'll find out very soon."

"I hope her name is Penelope! Wait, no. I hope it's Cassandra! Wait, no-" it went on and on.

Eventually they wound up back where they started, at the little ravine that led into the bottom of the mountain.

"I'm going to miss our castle, daddy." She declares as she stood back and looked up at it fondly.

"It's going to miss you too. More than you could possibly imagine." Kurda whispered, picking her up and fighting back tears as he kissed her forehead.

Kurda handed her over to Mika at precisely midnight; halfway through the day. Although technically he got Arrow to do it - the tattooed prince happened to be on his way up to the hall where Mika was when Kurda and Grace bumped into him. Arrow was more than delighted to sweep Grace off her feet and let her ride on his shoulders. He was well aware something was off between Mika and Kurda but had decided to keep his nose out of it. He didn't know exactly what was wrong, but he did know he would miss Gracie quite terribly in his own way. When he played with her, he was transported back in time to the cottage he shared with Sarah and the many nights spent sitting in front of the fireplace with the her and their children. It was always hard for him to look back on those memories, but somehow Grace made it easier.

"Are you all packed up for your big vacation, Princess Grace?" He asked her with a sad smile.

"All packed! My suitcase is the size of my whole room! It's so big you can't even lift it!" She confirmed from atop his shoulders.

"Oh, I bet I could lift it." Arrow argued playfully. "I bet I could lift it with my little pinky finger!"

"Nuh-uh!"

Arrow frowned when he walked into the Hall of Princes to see Mika alone at the front of the empty room, hunched in his throne with his head in his hands. He looked more and more like a zombie with every passing day. It was a completely different kind of tired than he'd been last year when he skipped sleeping for 4 days and it took Arrow and Kurda's combined efforts to make him slow down and take a break. But at least through all that he'd been happy. Now he just looked like an empty shell.

"Presenting... Princess Grace!" Arrow boomed in a tone of mock-pompousness. It was their thing - he announced her arrival every time they walked into the Hall of Princes together. She adored it. Mika looked up as they approached and quickly rearranged his face into a smile.

"Hey, Princess!" He called.

"Hi Daddy!" She yelled. Arrow carefully set her down and she ran up to the thrones.

"Did you have a good walk?" Mika asked, gathering her up into his lap. Arrow sat down in his own throne, the one on the far left.

"Yeah! We saw a mommy deer and a baby deer!"

"Wow, that's amazing! I'm so jealous!"

"Why didn't you come with us?"

Mika sighed.

"You know how it is, Gracie. This room always has to have at least one of us sitting in here. It can only be me, or Papa Paris, or Uncle Arrow, or Uncle Vancha. Uncle Vancha is travelling right now. Papa Paris is asleep - you know, he's getting older and he needs a lot of rest. So I took my turn. And now Uncle Arrow is here to switch places with me so I can hang out with you!" Mika explained, trying to keep his tone as chipper as he could. But "chipper" didn't come easily to him at the best of times. And these were not the best of times.

"Why does someone always have to stay in here, Daddy?"

Mika paused. That was a new question.

"Well, you see this big red stone behind me?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it's really important to us. It contains a... a little piece of everyone in our clan. You know what I mean by clan, right?"

"Yeah, it's like a big family that's not related but still a family."

"Exactly. It's got a little piece of every single family member inside it. No other family in the world has that - just ours. It's very old and very special."

"Ohhhh."

"So that's why there always has to be someone here watching over it. To make sure it doesn't get... knocked over or something. Does that answer your question?"

"Yeah. I didn't know that." Said Grace curiously, peeking around the side of the throne to get a better look at the Stone of Blood. "Is there a piece of me in there, Daddy?"

Mika's mind went blank. Opening that can of worms was the very bottom of the list of things he currently felt like dealing with. He'd have preferred taking a dip in a tub of spiders.

"Mika, I know you're busy but can you deliver this to Paris?" Arrow interjected briskly. He pulled a blank crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Mika.

"Definitely. Gracie, shall we go visit Papa Paris? I bet he'd love to see you!"

"Yeah yeah let's go!"

-Thank you. - He whispered to Arrow through their mental link. Observation wasn't Arrow's forte but he had realized Grace was inadvertently steering the conversation to a place Mika was NOT ready to go and swiftly caused a diversion.

-Everything will be ok. - Arrow replied as Mika and Grace walked away. Mika gave him an awkward half-wave without turning around. He knew if he made eye contact with his friend it would be game over, from an emotional standpoint. The only thing the pair of them avoided harder than handling their own emotions was handling each other's.

So Mika and Grace made their way up to Paris's cell while she drilled Mika with the same questions Kurda had gotten earlier. Mika answered each of them rapid-fire without missing a beat. He was listening to her ponder what type of musical instrument she should learn first, when Paris' soft voice drifted into his head.

-Arrow told me you're on your way up. Good, I wanted to see you and Grace. I have something to show you. -

"Papa Paris!" Grace yelled joyfully as she darted into the old Prince's cell a few feet ahead of Mika.

"Hello, Little One! My, your eyes are sparkling. Is something exciting about to happen?"

"I'm going to school tomorrow, Papa Paris! How could you forget?!" She scolded as she climbed up into his lap. As far as she was concerned, an unoccupied lap was free real estate.

"Ah, of course! How foolish of me!" Paris exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "I am so envious of you, my dear. What I would give to go get an education at such a beautiful place. You are a very lucky little girl."

"I know! I'm so excited!"

Mika smiled ruefully as the old man and the little girl chattered back and forth. He'd never forget the onslaught of verbal attacks Paris had hurled at him when he found out they'd brought a human orphan to the mountain. Now she had a permanent place in his heart. Mika contented himself with watching the two of them for a moment. The father and daughter that weren't technically his, yet at the same time were also entirely his.

Then came a soft knock at the door and Kurda's voice floated through the air.

"You wanted to see me, Sire Skyle?"

Mika stiffened, as did Kurda upon seeing them. Kurda thoroughly ignored Mika and swept past him to greet Grace.

"Yes, Kurda. Thank you for coming. Mika, shut the door."

Mika obeyed.

"Little One, I have a fresh canvas and a new paint set in the next room." Paris told Grace very seriously, gesturing to his coffin-room which lay around the corner. "Will you paint me one last picture before you embark on your glorious adventure?"

"YES!" Grace shouted, skipping away and out of sight.

"There, that will give us a few minutes to talk." Said Paris conversationally as he moved his gaze back to Mika and Kurda who were still not acknowledging each other. "Four years ago, the pair of you stood here in front of me, having just plucked an orphan human out of a Vampaneze massacre. And I... well, I tore a strip off you. I do not deny that, nor do I regret it. I had strong but valid emotions about what you did, and I made that clear. The reason I do not regret being so harsh on you is that you took every single word to heart, and you have surpassed any outcome I could have imagined from this situation. And couldn't possibly be more proud of you. Both of you."

Paris paused. Mika got the feeling he was giving them an opportunity to say something, but neither he nor Kurda volunteered. Paris looked at each of them in turn, smiling sadly.

"Now look at you. Your hearts are so corroded with fear and doubt, I hardly recognize either of you. And your worries are just as valid as mine were back then, but understand something. You can be cautious without letting it cloud your judgment. All I know is that you're both desperately afraid of the future right now, and it's tearing you apart. And you're allowing it to."

"If our interference in her life ends up leading to any negative impact on her future, I'll never forgive myself." Kurda whispered brokenly.

"And I understand that!" Said Paris kindly. "But like it or not, her life will never be 'normal', you can't force it to be, and you must make peace with that. You've been at war with each other for weeks now. I don't know details and I don't need you to share them with me right now. However, I've been around for a while and I happen to know both of you extremely well. I bet I wouldn't be far off the mark if I took a wild guess, and figured this transitional period has brought light to the fact that you both have very complicated feelings surrounding Grace maintaining ties to the clan as she reaches adulthood. And that you both know it's too early to drive yourselves mad over something decades away, but your anxieties about her imminent departure are making it impossible to ignore. And instead of working together like I used to think you couldn't, but now know you can... you're torturing each other because you have no other outlet."

When Paris finally finished speaking, the silence in the room was deafening. The only noise was Grace singing off-key in the next room and the wet slapping sound of paintbrush on canvas.

Mika had started staring at the floor about midway through Paris' lecture and he didn't think there was anything in the world that could convince him to meet his mentor's eyes ever again. But it seemed Paris had all the time in the world and was ready to play the waiting game. Mika felt like they might all just die of old age in that very room because at this moment, that sounded more appealing than trying to find his voice.

And then from his left side, he heard a sound that cause his heart to crack open and sink lower than he thought possible. Kurda had covered his face in his hands and was sobbing softly.

Mika hated crying. Hated it. It wasn't that he resented displays of emotion, or the people displaying them. It was just that the sound of crying, when coming from someone dear to him, caused him to unravel inside in ways he couldn't explain. It brought up memories of the cries of his human family so, SO long ago... Arrow sobbing in a crumpled heap on the floor after recounting Sarah's death to him for the first time... Arra shaking in his arms the day she tumbled down a ravine and broke both her legs... Grace desperately begging him to let her keep the tarantula she adopted... (remember how he relented in under 10 seconds?) Perhaps it was because of innate desire to be in control, but the sound of someone crying just made him feel so helpless, so paralyzed. But he knew exactly how Kurda felt in that moment. Anxious, conflicted, and so terribly lonely. Because that's how Mika felt too.

Mika didn't even have to think about it. There was zero pre-meditation when he turned and wrapped his arms around Kurda's slender body, when he pulled him against his chest and held onto him as tightly as he could, it was a pure reflex. He no longer cared that 24 hours ago they'd been screaming at each other over something he could no longer remember. All that mattered was that Kurda was now hugging him back.

"I'm going to see how Grace's painting is coming." Said Paris pointedly, stepping away and allowing them to have the room.

Kurda didn't attempt to speak and Mika was fine with that. Mika simply rubbed his back gently while Kurda used his shoulder to muffle his sobs. He realized Paris was singing loudly with Gracie in the other room - an attempt to keep her from overhearing anything that could upset her.

Paris, you clever old bat. Mika thought grimly to himself. It didn't take long for Kurda to pull himself together, though. He was many things but dramatic wasn't one of them. It's almost comical, if you didn't know them well you'd assume dark-clad, aloof Mika to be the steadfast and ever-stoic one, and golden-haired bright-faced Kurda to be... well, the opposite of that. But people don't fit into simple little boxes. Of course, Mika had to be a rock for the clan at all times, that was his job and he was almost too good at it. So good that at the end of the day it left him with more emotional baggage than you could shake a stick at. So over the last four years Kurda had become his rock. Not on purpose, but it was born out of necessity once Grace's well-being was factored into the mix. And somewhere during all of that - the good, the bad and the ugly moments that came with raising a child, Mika realized Kurda was the actually the strongest person he knew. There was an unshakeable energy about him that no force in the world could match. Maybe that was why the sight of Kurda finally hitting his breaking point made Mika feel like he was dangerously close to hitting his own. If he was being honest, he was surprised he hadn't gotten there first.

-I'm taking Grace for a walk. Going out the other door. Handle what needs to be handled and call me when you've done that. - Came Paris's voice into his mind suddenly, and Kurda's expression of resign told him he got the same message.

"Is he... holding our child hostage til we kiss and make up?" Mika weakly attempted a laugh. Then he instantly regretted his careless words - it was just a figure of speech but they'd never discussed the kiss that had occurred between them last year while they danced in an empty bar at 3am. Judging by the look that flashed across Kurda's face, he was thinking about it now too. But neither of them were interested in going down that particular rabbit hole at the moment. It was enough that they were now making direct eye contact for the first time in weeks.

"You look terrible." Kurda noted with a ghost of the usual smirk that appeared on his face whenever he teased Mika.

"You don't exactly look like a basket of roses yourself." Mika replied, reaching out and wiping a tear from Kurda's cheek. Kurda rolled his eyes at the gesture but didn't draw away.

"Did you ever find Grace's blue sweater?" Kurda asked softly. "She thought she left it in the Hall of Games while she was playing down there with Arrow last week."

"Yeah, it's in her suitcase now."

"Good. That's good."

A sense of relief gently crept up on both of them. The sweater itself wasn't a big deal seeing Grace only had about two dozen of them. The big deal was they'd just had their first civil exchange in about a month.

"I don't want to do this alone, you know." Said Mika in a voice barely above a whisper. "Tomorrow, or any of the days after that. What do I need to do to get you back on my team?"

It wasn't lost on Kurda that for Mika to come straight out and ask him that, was a bright red flag marking how close he was to losing it. Mika Ver Leth didn't ask for things, he simply made them happen.

Kurda gazed up at him unwaveringly. His tidepool eyes were still red-rimmed but the resentment had gone from his face. Now he just looked tired.

"Put the hyphen in her last name on all the legal documents." Said Kurda finally. His tone was flat but a faint sparkle had returned to his eyes.

Mika let out a half-laugh half-sigh of relief.

"Kurda, I did that weeks ago. I started to tell you but then you yelled at me because I let her hold my sword for two seconds."

"I remember that." Kurda groaned, but he'd started to smile. "She could have chopped her arm off!"

"I showed her how to hold it safely, and I was watching the whole time!" Mika protested, but without the cutting defensiveness he'd been using so often lately.

"Okay, fine. I'm not going down that road again." Kurda laughed weakly. "I'll just have to trust you'll teach her how to safely handle all the sharp things, seeing as keeping her ignorant of them is a losing battle."

"I don't think you're too overprotective." Mika added bluntly after a moments pause, thinking back to a snide remark he'd made several days ago. "Well, I mean you are overprotective... but so am I. In different ways, but same goal. Right?"

Kurda nodded slowly in agreement.

"That's the only reason this works... Well, not lately... but overall."

"I know."

"I can't keep fighting with you about things that may or may not happen decades from now." Kurda sighed, laden with defeat. "I'm still on your team, Mika. You've got me. End of story."

Mika exhaled, and felt the weeks of anxiety and misplaced anger finally drain from his body. Had his coffin been in front of him, he could have climbed in and slept for a week straight.

-Paris, you can come back now. -

The old prince had a satisfied smile on his face as he strode back into the room a few minutes later with Grace's little hand holding his.

"Ah, you're still here!" He chimed with mock surprise. "Very good, I have something to show the three of you."

He rummaged in a dusty wooden crate to the left of his desk, and withdrew... well, they didn't know what it was at first.

"This is a telephone. Now Grace, I know you've never used one of these but you've heard about them in your story books, yes?" She nodded curiously. "But this isn't a regular telephone. This is a military device that can transmit to anywhere in the world. And that includes Vampire Mountain."

Paris laughed as he watched Kurda and Mika assume identical expressions of absolute shock and awe as they were gripped with the realization of how this clunky old device was about to change the entire game.

"You don't want to know what I had to do to procure this!" Paris laughed heartily as they gawked. "I did things I am not proud of. But I think it will be put to better excellent keeping your little family in contact, aye?" He handed Grace a little piece of paper. "Gracie, if you ever need to talk to your dads, all you need to do is find a telephone at your school and dial this number. The phone will ring right here in this mountain, and someone will pick it up."

Grace examined the phone with curiosity but it was clear she had no idea the real impact it was going to make. But that was alright, she didn't need to know.

"Paris... I don't even know what to say." Mika croaked.

"You do not need to say anything." Said Paris with great compassion. "I cannot alleviate all of your concerns for the future but I hope this will soften them a little."

"More than you could imagine." Kurda murmured, exchanging a look with Mika.

Finally, Grace and Paris had exchanged their goodbyes and they were en route up to Grace's room for the last time.

"Daddy, Dad, did you pack Lovely's suitcase too?" She inquired out of nowhere.

Mika and Kurda exchanged a fleeting look to say, Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Even at the best of times, Grace's giant fluffy tarantula pet wasn't at the forefront of either of their minds. Especially Mika's, for reasons he'd rather not get into.

It took buckets of tears and delayed bedtime by at least an hour and a half but eventually they convinced Grace that Lovely would be happier if he remained here in Vampire Mountain with his family and she carried him slowly down to the caverns where the spider colony thrived. Mika's skin crawled with increasing intensity as they approached but he brushed off Kurda's offer to take care of this one on his own. As they walked down the mountain Kurda had to seriously wonder which of them would crack first: the 6 year old cradling her beloved pet and sniffling quietly to herself, or the imposing figure of Prince Mika Ver Leth whose face was turning green. Finally they arrived at the 6-foot-wide crack in the rocks that led to the spider cave.

"You can wait out here. Seriously. We'll just say a quick goodbye and send Lovely off on his next adventure." Kurda offered again. He didn't love spiders either but he also didn't have an actual phobia.

Mika gritted his teeth and shook his head. He felt as though he was about to go into a gruesome battle for his life. Actually, scratch that. He had done that more times than he could count. Mortal combat was a fun weekend activity compared to stepping into a spider cave. But Gracie was on the verge of breaking down again as she took one last look down at Lovely, who seemed to look back up at her affectionately out of his eight creepy little eyes.

"Let's go, Princess. Time to be brave." He said softly as he took Grace's one spider-free hand in his. Kurda put his hand on her shoulder and they walked side-by-side into the spider room.

-I'm closing my eyes now. Don't let me walk into a web.- Mika told Kurda through their mental link. The blond exhaled a covert huff of amusement and held onto Mika's shoulder to guide him. Grace handled the goodbye very well, all things considered. Lovely seemed to know what was going on, he was reluctant to leave her hands but he did not try to follow them when they left after several minutes. Mika was glad when he could open his eyes again.

And so ended Grace's final full day in Vampire Mountain. Of course she would return during Christmas break and summer holidays, but nevertheless it was the end of an era. If love could have halted time, all of Vampire Mountain would have rolled to a stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope that wasn't too angsty for you guys! I swear I'm like the happiest person in the world but writing angst just comes weirdly easily to me?
> 
> Drop a note if you're still with me. Cheers!


	14. The Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace looked up at Mika with wonder in her eyes. Kurda could pinpoint the exact moment Mika died a little inside.
> 
> ***
> 
> Mika and Kurda didn't anticipate being parents, much less boarding school parents. We're in the endgame now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday guys! I can't believe that this is the second last chapter of This Is Us! If it helps, I have the first few chapters in various stages of completion for the sorta-sequel. I'm capitalizing on unprecedented amounts of spare time while I can. I think I've figured out the secret to fanfiction - I now write only in the notepad of my phone so I can edit on the fly. I always used to have ideas but I'd forget by the time I got back to my laptop... so that realization has been amazing!
> 
> Anyway, here's the beginning of the end.
> 
> This one is paired with The Story by Brandi Carlile. I know it's cheesy but bear with me - it fits this chapter really well.
> 
> PS- I imagine Gracie's school looking identical to Hogwarts basically lmao, if that helps you envision it better!

All of these lines across my face  
Tell you the story of who I am  
So many stories of where I've been  
And how I got to where I am  
But these stories don't mean anything  
When you've got no one to tell them to  
It's true, I was made for you  
I climbed across the mountain tops  
Swam all across the ocean blue  
I crossed all the lines, and I broke all the rules  
But, baby, I broke them all for you  
Oh because even when I was flat broke  
You made me feel like a million bucks  
You do  
And I was made for you

***

"This is the most beautiful place in the whole world!" Grace screamed jubilantly as she cartwheeled messily around the lawn of St. Alucard's Academy. They'd spent the past hour completing a grand tour of the spectacular buildings and well-groomed gardens. Grace had never seen so many flowers in one place and Kurda kept having to remind her not to pick them. It was the middle of the night but move-in day would begin the crack of dawn. But due to Headmaster Redford's familiarity with the vampire clan, Mika and Kurda were granted rights to move Grace in during the night. The rest of the staff were told it was because Grace Smahlt-Ver Leth's parents were high-ranking government officials who were contractually obligated to maintain a low profile for legal reasons. This school was a popular choice for a lot of families in similar lines of work, so no one questions it. They opted to get in and out quickly in hopes that Grace could go back to sleep for the majority of the night and stay awake during the day - they'd warned her about this; that her sleeping schedule would require some modification to sync up with the rest of the world, that she may be tired for the first few days but eventually being awake during the day would feel perfectly normal. She seemed to understand, she'd always been very open-minded. (Kurda liked to take credit for that).

Mika and Kurda frolicked with her for several minutes on the empty lawn. Laughing, playing tag, talking to the Koi fish in the pond. Kurda decided that if he were to die right then and there and go to Paradise, he would sit down and refuse to enter unless it was as perfect as this moment. But all things must end, Grace needed her sleep whether she wanted it or not.

"Darling, should we go back up to your dormitory and make sure your uniform fits?"

"Okay! Bye fishies!" She blew kisses to her newfound friends and they retreated up the flagstone steps that led to the dorms. It really did feel like a castle, and Grace was completely smitten with everything about it. Her dormitory was massive, it consisted of one spacious yet cozy common room with a fireplace, a study corner, and many luxurious couches. A few staircases branched off from that, each leading to a a set of sleeping quarters. There were 5 beds in each chamber but plenty of space to go around. Each bed was a four-poster with a thick velvet canopy to provide the occupant a bit of privacy if they wanted it. Grace was fascinated, she spent ages pulling the canopy open and shut.

Just in time, it occurred to Mika and Kurda that they should probably have "the coffin talk."

"Okay Gracie, I'm going to tell you a little secret. Our family is the only one in the world who sleeps in coffins instead of beds, okay? But it's a secret - so it's better if you don't tell anyone that you're used to sleeping in one. Not that it's anyone's business, but if they ask you can just tell them you have a bed at home just like this one. Do you understand?"

"Yeah." Said Grace unconcernedly. "But isn't that a lie?"

Kurda groaned.

"Well... yes, Honey. It would be a lie. You're right."

"But Gracie, there's a difference between telling a lie that will hurt someone on purpose, and saying something that isn't true in order to protect your personal information." Mika stepped in, and Kurda shot him a grateful look. "I hope you never find yourself telling the first kind of lie. But if you have to tell the other kind... well, that's okay. Because you have our permission to."

Grace thought about that for a few minutes.

"Why does it have to be such a big secret?"

Kurda heard Mika flinch internally. Oh fuck it's already starting.

"Our family is a little different than your future classmates families." Kurda began gently.

"I know that. None of the kids in my story books have families like mine."

"Yes, you're absolutely right." Kurda continued encouragingly. "We are unique. Our clan has been around for a hundreds of thousands of years. As you've learned from your books, a lot of our traditions are different from the world around us. And that's okay! Different is good."

"So why is it a secret?"

"Sometimes people have a hard time accepting things that are different from what they're used to. It doesn't mean they're bad people... but I'm going to tell you a secret, Princess." Said Mika softly, sitting on the bed next to her stroking her hair. "You know things about the world that your classmates will never know. You've see things they'll never see. And that makes you extremely lucky. But it also comes with responsibility. And for now, responsibility includes keeping a couple secrets. Is there anything else you want to know?"

Grace looked up at Mika with wonder in her eyes. Kurda could pinpoint the exact moment Mika died a little inside. While preparing for this day they'd agreed to never feed her the line "I can't tell you that now but you'll understand when you're older". Whatever questions she had would be answered to the best of their abilities. They couldn't always drop raw truth bombs on a 6-year-old when it came to sensitive topics like this, but they vowed to never shut her down when she expressed curiosity about the world around her. But luck was on their side for that moment, and it seemed her curiosities were quelled. Her focus switched to changing into her new school uniform and performing a one-woman fashion show and revelling in Mika and Kurda's enthusiastic applause. And then all of a sudden she was in her fresh new pajamas and tucked into bed. And the moment they'd been dreading was upon them. Kurda knew he couldn't delay it forever, but he tried.

"Gracie, did we ever tell you the story of the day we brought you home?" He asked quietly. She was nestled into her pillows with her blankets up around her chin. Kurda sat next to her with an arm wrapped around her shoulders. Mika sat at the foot of the bed.

"You told me you found me all by myself with no one to look after me, so you took me home with you."

"Yes, that's correct." Kurda affirmed with a familiar sparkle in his eye. "But we've never told you all of the details."

"Tell me!" Grace grinned.

Kurda began the story. Mika closed his eyes and let himself travel back in time.

"It was a very cold winter night when we found you. We knew we had to bring you somewhere safe and warm and figure out our next move. We had to make a big decision to make. We had to choose between leaving you in an orphanage - I know you've read about those in your story books - with other children around your age. Or bring you back to the mountain with us and look after you ourselves."

"You almost didn't keep me?!"

"Seems crazy now, right?! But way back then, neither of us had ever looked after a baby before. We were afraid we wouldn't be able to take care of you properly. So for a little while, we thought an orphanage would be a safer place with you. We decided to go get some sleep in a motel and deliver you there the following day."

"What's a motel?"

"Remember the hotel we went to for our vacation last year? It's a little bit like that except much smaller and not nearly as pretty. Anyway, as soon as we arrived there was a lady working at the desk who just thought you were so cute - and then she asked us what your name was. And we realized we had no idea! I panicked and said 'Josephine', and your dad panicked too and blurted our the first name that popped into his head. Guess what it was? He said Vancha. Like your uncle"

Mika snorted at the memory.

"The walls were green like his hair, and I was tired!" He protested. Grace was squealing in laughter now at the thought of sharing a name with her eccentric uncle.

"So once we got all settled into our room, we noticed something. You'd been carrying a little blanket with you this whole time, and I took a look at it. And I realized we didn't have to worry about making up a name for you. Because your blanket said 'Grace' on it. Aren't you glad you we went with that instead of calling you Vancha this whole time?" Kurda added with a wink. "How would we tell the two of you apart if you had the same name?" That earned another giggle from Grace. Kurda carried on:

"So here we are, the three of us together in this tiny little motel room. We have Baby Gracie who has no idea what's going on, we have Mighty Prince Mika, although you know him as Daddy, and you have me - Wise General Kurda, or Dad if you prefer. Both of us were very successful for our ages, I will admit. We had a lot of very exciting opportunities in our lives and we thought we knew everything. We didn't always get along with each other back then -"

"You DIDN'T?!"

"Believe it or not, it took us years to start understanding each other. See, we always respected each other but we found a lot of little things to disagree about along with. Sort of like how I get into arguments with your Uncle Arrow sometimes."

Grace cackled at that. Those arguments were always amusing.

"But anyway, so here we are sitting in the motel room and we realize we don't know how long you've gone without food at this point. So the first thing your Daddy did was feed you half a bag of Doritos." Kurda cringed at the memory. "I told him that wasn't a fit meal for a baby but it was all we had at the time. But you ate all those chips and loved every one of them. But I decided to go to a shop nearby and find you some proper food, and some more chips for Daddy since you ate all of his."

That made her laugh even harder.

"So I went out and came back, and when I came back, guess what I saw."

"What?!"

"Your Daddy was all curled up in the tub with the biggest pile of bubbles I've ever seen in one bath. All I could see was his eyes peeking out. And you were also in a bubble bath next to him - in the sink, of all places! See, you needed your diaper changed. Your Daddy had no idea how to do that, but he wanted you to be clean and comfortable so he decided to give it a try anyway. But he didn't realize he didn't have a clean diaper to change you into! So we had to use a motel pillowcase."

Mika cringed at the memory. Baby poop wasn't as far down his list of Very Bad Things as spiders were, but it was close enough.

"Luckily, you didn't seem to mind. So the three of us finally got some sleep and the next morning we brought you to the orphanage."

"Why didn't you leave me there?"

"Well, Gracie, we couldn't just drop you on the doorstep without seeing what it was like. So we climbed all the way up the wall and looked in through one of the windows. And... it wasn't a nice place, Honey. It wasn't clean, and the people who worked there didn't look like they cared very much. And your Daddy and I looked at each other, and for the first time we both found something we agreed on. We knew we couldn't leave you there. Then it only took us a few minutes to realize the right thing to do was bring you home with us." Kurda trailed off for a moment and took a deep breath. He felt tears prickling the corners of his eyes, but for the first time in recent memory they weren't tears of frustration or stress. Hearing himself retell this story aloud was just... so, so much. But of course, Mika picked up on his weighted pause and filled in seamlessly so Kurda could have a moment to breathe.

"So we arrived at the mountain and nobody could believe we brought a baby home with us. There'd never been a baby in there before! It was a really special day. Uncle Arrow was the first one to meet you, of course. And right away he became your favourite - other than us, I mean. You even tried to say his name! You were always touching his big bald head. He thought you were so cute. Of course, he was right. And then you met Uncle Vanez, Auntie Arra, Uncle Vancha, Grampa Seba, Papa Paris, and so on and so forth."

"Is my middle name Arra because of Auntie Arra?" Grace asked. Mika had decided to go ahead and fill in that part in on her legal documents. Kurda had agreed, and they'd showed it to her yesterday before bed. She was very proud of her full name. She'd always simply identified as "Grace" or "Gracie". Then all of a sudden she was Grace Arra Smahlt-Ver Leth, and she felt inexplicable pride in that.

"Yes, that's right. Auntie Arra is one of my oldest and greatest friends. So we decided you deserved her name. She's a strong, beautiful, clever, independent woman. And we know that someday, you will be too."

Grace was quiet for a few minutes as Mika and Kurda allowed her to process all of that. She looked up at the ceiling with a contemplative expression. For someone so young, she had a remarkable ability to think about her words before speaking them. Whenever she gave something serious consideration her resemblance to Kurda was so uncanny she could have passed for his biological child.

"So I really don't get to come for another four months?" She eventually broke the silence. Her tone was completely even. Although her eyes betrayed a bit of worry, she was clearly putting up a spectacularly brave front. That part of her was all Mika.

"No, Gracie." Kurda replied softly. "I know it seems very far away, but it's going to go by so fast you'll barely have time to miss us. It's going to be a really big change for you, I know. But a good change. Even the scary parts are all stepping stones leading the way to the person you'll grow into someday. You're going to do amazing things. I can feel it in my bones. But no matter what happens, we're already so proud of you. And we love you so very, very much. And whether we're all in a tiny motel room eating Doritos together, or a whole country away... we will never stop loving you."

"I love you back." Grace whimpered, wiping her suddenly-tearful eyes on her blanket and crawling into Kurda's arms. Once her face was hidden in his neck did he allow his own tears to fall. His body trembled with silent sobs as he cradled her for the last time. Mika felt his own throat constrict and he pulled both of them into his arms knowing only that if he could go back in time to that day at the orphanage and see the ripple effect their decision would set into motion, if he knew how it would all lead to this impossibly complicated, excruciating moment... he'd choose it all again.

***

You see the smile that's on my mouth  
It's hiding the words that don't come out  
And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed  
They don't know my head is a mess  
No, they don't know who I really am  
And they don't know what  
I've been through like you do  
And I was made for you  
And all of these lines across my face  
Tell you the story of who I am  
So many stories of where I've been  
And how I got to where I am  
But these stories don't mean anything  
When you've got no one to tell them to  
It's true, I was made for you  
It's true that I was made for you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's that on that! Last chapter will be up sometime over the weekend, then followed up by a tiny epilogue and after that... off we go to part 2! :)
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> \- Roxy


	15. Now This Is Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "All I really know is love ain't simple  
> It finds you all alone when you're unassembled."
> 
> *** 
> 
> Once again, Mika and Kurda find themselves stuck together in a small motel room and somehow it's more tense than the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys, I'm posting this with tears in my eyes but this is the final chapter. This was kind of a challenge to write but ultimately I'm pleased with it.
> 
> This chapter is paired with the story's namesake song, This Is Us by Jimmie Carter and Noah Cyrus.
> 
> I don't have anything else to say, so enjoy!

I used to push my luck, I used to fill my cup  
Yeah, I used to be known for the dumb things  
I used to chase the sun, I used to kiss and run  
All-nighters turned into nothings

I'm lucky every other lover got away  
I'm lucky that my heart was always hard to break  
I'm lucky when you came along I had a chance to take

'Cause it was just you and that was just me  
And that was just the way that it used to be  
And we were just kids back then tryna figure out what it was

No, it wasn't that bad but could've been better  
If only back then we'd have been together  
But it was just you and that was just me  
Before we found love

Now this is us

***

As Mika and Kurda left the school, there was an ominous growl of thunder in the distance and the distinct smell of rain approaching. They decided to allow themselves one night of human comfort before returning to the mountain so they made their way to a nearby motel. That's where it all started four years ago, so they figured it made sense to draw this chapter to a close in a similar fashion. Maybe eat some Doritos or take a bubble bath, they'd chuckled to themselves as they checked in. The last goodbye was painful but ultimately Grace was in good spirits when they left, although she'd miss them very much she was upbeat about her big adventure. All things considered it went as well as the circumstances allowed.

They walked into the shabby-but-clean motel room, Kurda threw his travel bag on the bed and lay down next to it. Mika shut the door behind him, and clicked the lock into place. And apparently that lock been the last thing standing between his sanity and the complete dissolution of all logic and reason. Because that was the moment his brain finally snapped. One second he was joking about finding the nearest vending machine, and the next he was sinking down to the floor and sobbing for what felt like hours but was really only several minutes while Kurda stroked his back and whispered kind things. It was ugly and horrible and embarrassing but the worst part was, when it was all over and he could finally breathe again, he still didn't feel any better.

"You have the bed. I'll take the floor, I don't care." Mika murmured dully as he took his coat off and dropped it where he stood. The closet was next to him but he'd run out of fucks to give. They'd gotten the last available room so they didn't have the luxury of choosing one with two beds.

"Fine, but why don't you sit up here for a bit?" Kurda asked cautiously, patting the bed next to him. "Let's watch the news for a while. You love the news."

It was true. Mika did love the news. And he only got to watch it a few times a decade so he begrudgingly crawled onto the bed next to Kurda and they sat in silence for an hour or so as a series of too-happy newscasters recapped all the current goings-on of the world.

"How you feeling?" Kurda ventured later.

"Fucking grand. How do you think I'm doing?" Mika snapped back before Kurda could finish the sentence.

"There's no need to jump down my throat." Kurda replied evenly. "The world won't end if you accepted the fact that people are going to care about you whether you like it or not."

Mika closed his eyes and leaned back melodramatically, rubbing his temples.

"Gods, Kurda, can we just not do this, just once? Am I not allowed to be sad in peace?"

"No, actually. You're not."

"And since when do I take orders from you? Was there a coronation I wasn't invited to? For once in your damn life, just sit there and stop trying to pretend like the world is made of rainbows and unicorns. Why can't you just be like everyone else?"

Kurda sighed in dismay. It was a line straight out of the classic Sire Ver Leth playbook that Kurda thought had been retired. Mika hadn't addressed him with such coldness since Pre-Grace. Even in the past few weeks of turmoil that led up to this day, he hadn't regressed quite that far back. Kurda took a deep, steadying breath and decided, nope. We're not going to do this.

"Fuck you, Mika." The blond General spat back with as much spite as he could fit into three short words. "Don't you dare talk to me like that."

Mika immediately sat up and regarded Kurda reproachfully. His reactivity had been dulled by the events of the day but Kurda could tell he had outrage on standby. But that was fine because Kurda had plenty of his own.

"Don't you dare start acting like none of this even happened. We moved mountains to get here. It should have been impossible, hell, everything we did together over the last four years together should have been impossible. But we did it anyway. I've laughed with you. I've cried with you. I held you up when you couldn't do it yourself and you did the same for me. Over and over and over."

"Kurda..." Mika groaned. "I know... I didn't mean... I'm sorry."

"Oh, didn't you?!" Kurda bristled. "We must have gone back in time because the you I know would never talk to me like that, not now. I used to think you were an arrogant, conceited prick just like the rest. But then comes Gracie and all of a sudden there's this whole other personality in there that contradicts everything I knew about you. And I thought maybe that was the real you. Not the overachieving, swaggering, overhyped man-child who cares only for drinking ale with precious Arrow and Vancha and punching anyone who looks at you funny!"

Mika looked up as though Kurda had just punched him in the face. They both knew the tail end of that statement was a blatant exaggeration, but all exaggerations come from a place of truth so it got the point across. This is partially why verbal warfare with Kurda frustrated him to no end. Mika was exceptionally well-spoken, even in difficult situations. Not to mention his razor-sharp wit was legendary. But as good as he was, Kurda was better. Sometimes when they debated, Mika felt like he'd finally met his match. But other times, like now, words failed him completely and he couldn't do anything but lay back against his pillow and blink dumbly.

"Mika, I know you love Grace as much as I do. I've never doubted it for a second. But did you spend that entire time... just tolerating me for her sake? Are... are you really that good an actor?" Kurda's voice finally broke and the last few words came out in a rasp. "And you can be honest, because I really need to know."

Mika drew himself upright until he was at eye level with Kurda, barely a foot apart. He tilted his head sideways, face unreadable. And slowly he slid his right hand behind Kurda's head, letting his fingers get tangled in smooth platinum hair. Then, gently as if he was cradling a baby bird, he pulled Kurda into him until their foreheads were pressed together and for a moment they just breathed. They became acutely aware of each other's hearts pounding like the thunder approaching in the distance. Kurda's arms were now draped around Mika's shoulders. The General leaned into the Prince, gently pushing him back down into the bed til Mika was lying on his back and Kurda's chest was pressed into his, while Mika's hands traced circles on his back. Every movement was leisurely and calculated, each giving the other ample opportunity to break away, to shut this down before it went any further. Then finally Kurda allowed his lips to brush Mika's.

From start to finish, it was a slow burn. They took their time, in a way that was lazy yet deliberate. As though they'd been waiting for this moment their entire lives and had only one chance to execute it flawlessly. From the first kiss to the final shuddering sigh when it ended, neither of them spoke a word until they were both laying together afterwards as their heartbeats gradually returned to a normal pace. Mika on his back with Kurda lying in the space between his arm and his body, head resting on Mika's shoulder with his blue eyes closed. It was Mika who finally broke the silence.

"Remember yesterday when you said to me, 'I'm still on your team, you've got me, end of story' ?"

Kurda hummed affirmatively, not opening his eyes.

"Well, I've got you too." said Mika. "End of story."

***

All I really know is love ain't simple  
It finds you all alone when you're unassembled  
Yeah, when you're in pieces and you feel like you're drowning  
You don't wanna give nobody the power  
That's when it gets in the cut  
And that's when it stitches you up

'Cause it was just you and that was just me  
And that was just the way that it used to be  
And we were just kids back then tryna figure out what it was  
No, it wasn't that bad but could've been better  
If only back then we'd have been together  
But it was just you and that was just me  
Before we found love

Now this is us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it, folks! Thank you to the handful of you who've been on this trip with me the past few weeks when I literally woke up in a writing mood for the first time since 2013. I've been looking at traffic stats for this story and I'm so glad to see it actually does have a following! There will be a tiny epilogue coming shortly but it's just a little bonus thing.
> 
> There is also the spinoff/sequel in progress. I haven't named it yet but it will be up very soon. Mika and Kurda's story will have a few more twists and turns but at this moment in time, they finally have the happy ending I've wanted to give them for so long. I wish it didn't take a global pandemic to get me back into fanfiction but it is what it is.
> 
> If you feel so inclined, please let me know if you're still here. Sending love and wishing you all the health and happiness in the world!
> 
> \- Roxy


	16. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised - a tiny little "epilogue" now that everything is said and done. It's in two parts. Part 1 is Grace's first school essay, and Part 2 is a list of just SOME of the music that's directly inspired the way I write Mika and Kurda's relationsip as well as a tiny snippet of lyrics that have stuck with me in regards to them. I've been listening to a LOT of music lately and I've always loved pairing it with fics. In this case, not every chapter worked for that so I just stuck them all here for my own enjoyment more than anything else.
> 
> For the last time, enjoy!

First Semester Assignment

Miss Arlington's First Grade Class

Topic: "About My Life"

Submitted by Grace Arra Smahlt-Ver Leth

What is your name?

My name is Grace but a lot of people call me Gracie. I like both. My full name is Grace Arra Smahlt-Ver Leth but it is very long so it's ok if you just call me Grace.

Describe your home:

I live in a big house made of stone in the middle of a forest. There are no other houses nearby but I don't mind because I sometimes see a deer when I walk outside. There is snow there for a lot of the year and I like to play in it. I also like running and reading and singing and drawing and painting.

Share something about yourself that is special or unique:

I think I am a little different from some of kids because I have 2 dads instead of 1 dad and 1 mom. But that is ok and it is not a weird or bad thing. My dads said there are lots of kids in the world who have 2 dads or 2 moms. Or some have just 1 mom and no dad. Or 1 dad and no mom. And that is ok as long as they have someone who loves them. But some kids have no moms and no dads and that makes me feel sad. I used to be sad because I didn't have a mom but I do have an Auntie Arra and she taught my dads how to braid my hair so they could be good at it. My daddy chose my middle name because of her. Both of my dads are the best because they love me so much and we always have the most fun together. They both have important jobs and they work hard every day but they still make a lot of time for me. Sometimes they have to go away for work trips but if they both go at the same time then I get to go with Papa Paris or Grampa Seba and they let me do fun things like pet animals or go exploring. Grampa Seba helped me find my pet tarantula Lovely. I wanted to bring Lovely to school but my dads said no. Sometimes I also get babysat by my Uncle Arrow. He is my daddy's best friend. I hope I have a best friend like him some day. Uncle Arrow started teaching me how to fight last summer and so far I am good at it. My dad doesn't want me to fight at all but my daddy says it is good because it can help keep me safe when I get older. But he always makes me promise I will not use it to hurt other people on purpose and I think I will keep my promise.

Do you like school so far? What is your favorite part?

So far I think I like school a lot because I feel like I have a big family and that makes me like I am back at home. My favourite part is the fish in the pond and also my new friends like Talia, Abigail, and Kathleen. We laugh and play a lot and I think we will be best friends forever like Daddy and Uncle Arrow. Sometimes I miss my dads and my big family but I know they are always thinking about me and hoping I have fun and learn a lot. And so far I am doing both of those things so I know they will be very proud of me. My dad said it's good if you miss something because that means you have something that is worth missing. I think that means the reason I miss my family so much because they are so great and I am lucky to have them.

The end.

Bonus:

Roxy's Mika-Kurda Playlist

1 - This Is Us / Jimmie Carter Noah Cyrus  
"All I really know is love ain't simple / It finds you all alone when you're unassembled"

2 - Magic In The Hamptons / Social House  
"You know where I go when we're dancing / Handshakes in The Hamptons and gettin' drunk in the mansions with you"

3 - The Story / Brandi Carlisle  
"And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed / They don't know my head is a mess / No, they don't know who I really am / And they don't know what / I've been through like you do"

4 - Endgame / Taylor Swift  
"For all your beautiful traits, and the way you do it with ease / For all my flaws, paranoia, and insecurities"

5 - Song # 3 / Stone Sour  
"I have gone beyond my years / I've wasted half my life / But I found it all in you / Did I save you? / 'Cause I know you saved me too"

6 - Slow Burn / Kacey Musgraves  
"Good in a glass, good on green / Good when you're putting your hands all over me / I'm alright with a slow burn / Taking my time, let the world turn / I'm gonna do it my way, it'll be alright / If we burn it down and it takes all night"

7 - The Bones / Maren Morris  
"We're in the homestretch of the hard times / We took a hard left, but we're alright / Yeah, life sure can try to put love through it, but / We built this right, so nothing's ever gonna move it"

8 - Dress / Taylor Swift  
"Our secret moments in your crowded room / They've got no idea about me and you / There is an indentation in the shape of you / Made your mark on me, a golden tattoo"

9 - Sunflower / Post Malone Swae Lee  
"Wish I could be there for ya / Give me a reason to / Oh, every time I'm walkin' out / I can hear you tellin' me to turn around"

10 - Cross Me / Ed Sheeran  
"I really need all you to understand / That nobody's coming close / And I don't ever wanna run around / I spent my youth jumping in and out / But you know I'm fuckin' lovin' now"

11 - Call It What You Want / Taylor Swift  
"At least I did one thing right / I did one thing right / I'm laughing with my lover, making forts under covers / Trust him like a brother, yeah, you know I did one thing right"

12 - Nothin' Like You / Dan Shay  
"Nothin' like you / Shades on spinning in a summer rain / Dancing when there ain't no music / Just the right kind of crazy, baby / Something about you"

13 - Superman / Taylor Swift  
"Tall dark and Superman / He puts papers in his briefcase and drives away / To save the world or go to work / It's the same thing to me / Hes got his mothers eyes, his fathers ambition / I wonder if he knows how much that I miss him / I hang on every word you say"

14 - Fire Away / Chris Stapleton  
"Fire away / Take your best shot / Show me what you got / Honey, I'm not afraid / Rear back and take aim / And fire away"

15 - Army / Lady Antebellum  
"She [he] can hold my dreams right there in her[his] pocket / And shoot down fear with her[his] other hand / She's [he's] a parachute, bulletproof, oh / And she's[he's] the softest place to land"

18 - It's Nice To Have A Friend / Taylor Swift  
"Call my bluff, I call you "babe" / Have my back, yeah, everyday / Feels like home, stay in bed / The whole weekend / It's nice to have a friend"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all there is, guys! Thank you for reading with me. Thank you for loving Mika and Kurda with me as they slowly get things figured out. If memory serves me correctly - THIS IS THE FIRST NON-TVF STORY I'VE PROPERLY FINISHED IN ALL MY 13 YEARS OF WRITING. (Hahaha fuck my life). But I'm so glad I did it. This was so fun, I love these characters so SO much.
> 
> One very final note: Darren Shan, if you're reading this my good Sir, I would like to buy rights for the characters of Mika Ver Leth, Arrow, and Kurda Smahlt from you. Hit up my DMs and we can talk. :)))
> 
> See you guys on the other side - sequel will be up within a couple days! First chapter just needs some minor tweaks and we'll be ready to go.
> 
> Cheers, love, and good health! And once again, THANK YOU!
> 
> \- Roxy


End file.
